South Africa Extradites Six Nigerians in $6.2M Romance Fraud Case Targeting US Women

A broken crane. That fictional prop, deployed repeatedly in messages to American victims, sits at the center of a $6.2 million fraud operation that South African and US authorities spent five years dismantling.

South Africa transferred six Nigerian nationals to FBI and US Secret Service officials at Cape Town International Airport on Friday, concluding an extradition process that began with arrests in Cape Town in 2021. The men face federal charges including wire fraud, money laundering and aggravated identity theft, according to South Africa’s Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, the Hawks.

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The capital flows at the heart of the case were extracted methodically. Between 2011 and 2021, prosecutors allege, the defendants used social media and dating websites to identify victims in the United States, built false romantic identities using fabricated profiles and internet-based telephone numbers, then manufactured financial emergencies once emotional trust was established. Victims were told the men had traveled to South Africa for construction work and faced crises: accidents, unpaid foreign taxes, legal disputes, damaged equipment. The crane story appeared repeatedly. Victims sent money, mobile phones, computers and other valuables. Some were persuaded to open American bank accounts that the alleged fraudsters could access directly.

The combined losses, valued by South African police at $6.2 million (100 million South African rand), were spread across more than 100 American women, including pensioners and businesspeople. Prosecutors allege that personal photographs were sometimes used to pressure women who became reluctant to send additional payments.

The six extradited men are Perry Osagiede, Franklyn Edosa Osagiede, Osariemen Eric Clement, Collins Owhofasa Otughwor, Musa Mudashiru and Toritseju Gabriel Otubu. Five are accused of holding leadership positions in the Cape Town branch of the Neo Black Movement of Africa, commonly known as Black Axe. Otubu is accused of working with a leader of the organization. The Justice Department describes Black Axe as headquartered in Benin City, Nigeria, with international branches called zones. Cape Town, prosecutors allege, served as one such operational base for years.

The defendants allegedly used South African companies and bank accounts to obscure the source and movement of funds obtained through romance scams, advance-fee fraud and compromised business emails. That layering of proceeds through local corporate structures is a standard money-laundering technique, and it is precisely what the wire fraud and money-laundering conspiracy charges target. Each of those counts carries a maximum federal prison term of 20 years. Aggravated identity theft adds a mandatory two-year consecutive sentence. These are statutory ceilings; prosecutors must still prove the fraud, financial losses and alleged Black Axe links beyond a reasonable doubt.

The case has expanded beyond the six men now transferred. Enorense Izevbigie, arrested in South Africa, was extradited to the United States in December 2024 and detained pending trial after appearing before a federal court in New Jersey, where all defendants are expected to face proceedings. Egbe Tony Iyamu, also named in the investigation, remains listed by American prosecutors as a fugitive. The Justice Department initially charged eight Nigerians in connection with the case in 2021.

Meanwhile, the extradition lands against a backdrop of sharply deteriorating political relations between Africa’s two largest economies. Nigeria’s parliament suspended official visits to South Africa one day before the transfer, citing recurring attacks against Nigerian and other African migrants. Abuja reports at least 98 Nigerians killed in mob attacks, hate-related violence and alleged extrajudicial killings in South Africa since 2022, and Nigeria evacuated 1,695 citizens from the country this year. The parliamentary suspension does not halt all government engagements, and the extradition itself primarily reflects cooperation between South African and US authorities rather than any new bilateral arrangement with Abuja.

The paradox is hard to miss. Political relations between Pretoria and Abuja are fraying over the treatment of Nigerian migrants, while South African law enforcement continues to pursue Nigerian suspects accused of using the country as a base for cross-border financial crime. Whether that operational cooperation survives further diplomatic strain is the question neither government has yet answered.