Police nab man accused of impersonating World Bank official in $250,000 fraud

THE Nigeria Police Force (NPF) has apprehended Agbor Martins Black-Diamond over allegations that he impersonated an official of the World Bank to defraud unsuspecting individuals.

According to a statement issued on Wednesday by police spokesperson Anthony Placid, the suspect was arrested on March 31, 2026, following intelligence provided by the East Africa Sub-Sahara Africa Safe Promotion Foundation (EA-SSASPF), a Nairobi-based non-governmental organisation.

Placid explained that the suspect was introduced to Julius Kithome and Cynthia Kithome in Nairobi by Edy Ndeto. He allegedly presented himself as a representative of the World Bank and other donor agencies based in the United States.

The police said the victims were persuaded to transfer a total of $250,000 over a three-year period, under the pretext of registration and administrative fees required to access donor funding. However, no such funding materialised.

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Instead, the suspect reportedly organised fake symposiums in Nigeria and South Africa to sustain the scheme. In 2024, he allegedly convinced the victims to obtain a bank loan using family property as collateral, promising access to a non-existent $850,000 empowerment fund in Ghana.

Investigations and financial analysis later confirmed significant inflows from the Kenyan victims, including $57,975 received between February and July 2023.

Authorities further revealed that Black-Diamond operated an unregistered entity, Black Diamond African Beauty Restoration Foundation, before registering United African Continent Limited in November 2024 in an attempt to legitimise his activities.

The police also disclosed that the suspect expanded the scheme locally, targeting farmers in Kuje Area Council, where he collected N50,000 from each victim under the guise of empowerment and capacity-building programmes.

Other suspects arrested over cybercrime, fraud

In a related development, the NPF arrested a former staff member of NewLife Ventures Makurdi, Chinedu Mbachu, over alleged unauthorised alteration of computer systems, cybersquatting, and diversion of funds.

Additionally, Ayodele Daramola and Dada Babatunde Oluwatobi were taken into custody for alleged involvement in data privacy breaches, business email compromise, unauthorised system access, and fraud.

Preliminary findings indicate that between May and December 2025, Daramola, who worked in investment booking industry, collaborated with Oluwatobi, a non-employee, to divert company funds.

The duo allegedly siphoned N85 million by exploiting internal systems and routing the money through a bank account linked to Oluwatobi. Of the total amount, about 21 percent (N17.85 million) was retained by Oluwatobi, while 79 percent (N67.15 million) was transferred to an online account associated with Daramola.

Further investigations showed that Daramola spent approximately N61 million of the diverted funds on online gambling and betting platforms.