Romance Scam: Two Nigerian Men Swindle Texas Woman Who Believed She Was Dating Bruno Mars Of $100,000
A 39-year-old Nigerian man based in Houston, Texas, Chinwendu Azuonwu, has appeared in court for impersonating award-winning superstar, Bruno Mars on Instagram and defrauding a woman of $100,000 (over N38 million) in a romance scam.
The unnamed 63-year-old woman, according to police, said she was made to believe that she was in a romantic relationship with Bruno Mars.
Azuonwu was charged with third-degree felony money laundering last month but was taken into custody this week, DailyMail reports.
In court documents, his co-conspirator was identified as one 29-year-old Basil Amadi, however, information about Amadi’s arrest record was not available.
According to his charging documents, Azuonwu is connected to a scheme that happened between September and October 2018 involving a 63-year-old north Texas woman who told police she created an Instagram profile in search of companionship.
She told investigators a person pretending to be Bruno Mars reached out to her and made her believe that he was interested in pursuing a meaningful relationship.
During these interactions on Instagram and Google Hangouts, the woman told investigators that she ‘fell in love’ with the person she thought was Mars.
She expressed that she believed him to be the real singer because he had sent her multiple texts and photos of the artist while he was on tour. She also told investigators that he wanted to quit the tour to be with her.
The Mars account then began asking the woman for money. In September 2018, ‘Mars’ asked the woman to send him a $10,000 (N3.8 million) check to help cover touring expenses, according to police.
The woman agreed and sent the money to ‘Basil Chidiadi Amadi,’ a person described as a ‘friend of the band,’ according to authorities.
However, two days later, the woman was once again contacted by ‘Mars’ who asked for another $90,000 (over N34 million). She withdrew the funds and sent it to an account named ‘Chi Autos’.
Each amount was deposited in separate accounts, which were each held by Azuonwu and the alleged accomplice, Basil Amadi.
After warrants were executed on the accounts, investigators found a $90,000 deposit in Azuonwu’s account, which was later found to be withdrawn down to a zero balance.
Investigators then separately interviewed Azuonwu and Amadi. Azuonwu acknowledged that he was the owner of one of the bank accounts in question, though he denied ever knowing Amadi.
He also said he did not know how $90,000 was deposited into his account, according to the criminal complaint.
Amadi also told investigators that he did not know Azuonwu. He also could not explain the source of the $10,000 payment that appeared in his bank records.
After court proceeding, Azuonwu’s bail was set at $30,000.
Both men were charged with money laundering and if convicted, each of them faces between two and 10 years in state prison.
