Package Scam: Nigerian national remanded to prison; co-accused released on $100,000 bail

A Nigerian national was on Friday remanded to prison for conspiring to commit a felony, while his co-accused was released on $100,000 bail, over a scam operation.

Matthew Ejike Nwachukwu of Nigeria and Wayne Anthony Halley of Linden appeared before City Magistrate Leron Daly.

The men denied that between August 20-29, at Georgetown, they conspired with each other to defraud Njema Nobel of $100,000 cash by falsely pretending that they were in a position to deliver a package to her.

Police Prosecutor Christopher Morris objected to Nwachukwu being released on bail since he is not a Guyanese national and poses as a flight risk.

Magistrate Daly remanded Nwachukwu to prison and released Halley on $100,000 bail.

Halley also has to report to the Special Organised Crime Unit Headquarters every Monday until the conclusion of the case.

The matter is adjourned until October 25.

Recently, the Head of SOCU, Assistant Commissioner Fazil Karimbaksh, warned of a sharp rise in cases where suspected Nigerian nationals who are in the country illegally as well as some out of Guyana, are working with local accomplices to carry out scams and pyramid schemes on unsuspecting persons.

Karimbaksh indicated that “Package Delivery” and “Romance” scams became more prominent during the COVID-19 pandemic as scammers targeted primarily women via several social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, as well as online dating sites.