South Africa is preparing to hand over six Nigerian nationals to United States authorities over allegations of defrauding more than 100 women through an organised romance scam operation.
The suspects, arrested in South Africa in 2021, are accused by US authorities of wire fraud and money laundering and are allegedly connected to the Black Axe network, according to the South African Police Service.
Police said the group allegedly used romance scams to target women in the United States, with the victims reportedly losing more than R100 million.
The six suspects are expected to be moved from a correctional facility in Cape Town to Cape Town International Airport, where they will be handed over to officials from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Secret Service.
The transfer is being facilitated through INTERPOL South Africa, with the formal handover scheduled for Friday afternoon.
SAPS said the arrests followed a major operation by the Hawks, the country’s Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, in 2021.
The extradition is the latest in a series of cases involving international cooperation to prosecute Nigerians accused of cyber-enabled crimes.
In August, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission extradited two Nigerian nationals, Mudashiru Afeez Olawale and Adebola Festus, to the United States over alleged online sexual exploitation and sextortion involving two teenage boys who later died by suicide.
The EFCC said joint investigations with the US FBI allegedly connected the pair to separate sextortion schemes targeting male minors.
