Vulnerable women using Match.com 'were conned out of £220,000 by pair who set up fake profile claiming to be attractive heir awaiting £100m fortune'

Gang accused of sending romantic messages before asking for cash

One read: 'Honey, seriously I love you because I have never been loved by anyone like you loved me'

Victim gave them £174,000 via bogus solicitor before alleged scam emerged

Brooke Boston, 28, and Eberechi Ekpo, 26, deny charges of conspiracy to defraud and money laundering

Monty Emu, 28, and Adewunmi Nusi, 27, both deny money laundering





Conmen bombarded lonely women on a dating website with gushing messages of love to con them out of £220,000, a court heard yesterday.

The group created false profiles on Match.com to pose as middle-aged men and told victims they were their ‘soulmate’ and ‘inspiration’.

One woman received a message describing ‘the love thundering into our hearts that only we can understand’.



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On trial: Adewunmi Nusi and Brooke Boston (covered) leave the court, where they are accused of taking advantage of vulnerable women looking for love in return for cash

Scam: The gang are accused of using a fake profiles set up on match.com - mainly with the name James Richards - and then gradually swindled cash from vulnerable women



The gang invented a story about needing money to ‘free up’ a £1.5million inheritance locked in an Indian bank account to press the ‘vulnerable’ singletons for cash, prosecutors said.

Monty Emu, 28, Eberechi Ekpo, 26, Adewunmi Nusi, 37, and Brooke Boston, 28, allegedly pocketed £220,000 from women they targeted. One woman paid them £174,000 in total, the court heard.

Opening the trial at Winchester Crown Court, prosecutor Simon Edwards said bogus Match.com accounts were set up to contact ‘emotionally vulnerable’ users.

One profile, for ‘James Richards’, described him as ‘very attractive’ and listed his height, build and hair colour.

Once they lured a woman they would exchange messages on the site and then move to text messages and email, where they were unmonitored, jurors heard.



Victim: Suzanne Hardman sobbed as she told the court that she was duped by the false profile of James Richards into handing over about £170,000

Manipulation: This email reveals how the women were bombarded with messages where 'James' declared his love for them but also mentioned problems that would be solved by their cash

The victims were told Mr Richards’ father had died and left him £1.5million. He asked them for £700 to help fund a trip to India to access it.

‘Mr Richards’ went on the trip but hit problems and needed more money to obtain a series of certificates and an affidavit to release his inheritance, the story went, with the sums ranging from £10,000 to £100,000.

The scam included a fictitious lawyer, Rod Thompson of ‘Quality Solicitors’, fake court documents and tax clearance certificates.

Mr Edwards said: ‘The operation of the conspiracy was fairly straightforward and its success depended on the trust and co-operation of the victims in this case.

‘It is fair to say – and I hope I do not do them a disservice in this – by and large the victims were financially vulnerable and also to an extent emotionally vulnerable.



‘The conspirators exploited their emotional vulnerability to ensure financial reward for them and those who laundered the money.’

Money was paid into bank accounts and transferred on, and cash was withdrawn around Portsmouth, Hampshire, Mr Edwards said.



Contact: The men allegedly sent amorous messages via the dating site before moving to email and text to ask for money

Suzanne Hardman, of Basingstoke, Hampshire, handed over £174,000 in several payments after being contacted by ‘James Richards’ in March 2012.

She received messages saying she made him ‘feel like a complete man’ and another – referred to in court as the ‘thundering email’ – that told of ‘the love thundering into our hearts that only we can understand’.

Mrs Hardman broke down as she told the court how, having separated from her husband, she handed over her savings from the sale of her former marital home.

‘Certain things just didn’t seem right, but because I was led to believe that I was dealing with a solicitor it seemed fine, because he was taking care of the money – or so I thought,’ she said.

But not all women contacted fell for the group’s claims, and the scam eventually came unstuck, the court heard.

Mr Edwards said ‘elementary mistakes’ were made, such as a passport supposedly belonging to James Richards sent as proof giving his name as Richard James and an affidavit listed £1.5million ‘starling’ rather than sterling.

Boston, Emu and Ekpo, from Southsea, Hampshire, and Nusi, of Thatcham, Berkshire, deny money laundering between August 2012 and December 2013.

Boston and Ekpo deny committing fraud by false representation from March 1, 2012, and February 9 2014.

Boston’s husband Emmanuel Oko, 29, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to fraud and money laundering, and Chukwuka Ugwu, 28, has pleaded guilty to money laundering.