A 29-year-old Nigerian, Habeeb Anibaba, was arrested in the UK after a federal grand jury indicted him on bank fraud charges for a romance scam that siphoned over $1.3 million from Norfolk, Virginia’s city accounts via 900+ fraudulent transactions.
Authorities traced him using his Nigerian Voter Card; the US now seeks his extradition to face trial.
The year-long scheme involved six women aged 20-30, recruited via dating sites with tales of needing help transferring funds from an overseas “man,” who then directed them to move money—often via gift cards or cryptocurrency—into various accounts, with transfers from $100 to $20,000.
Norfolk officials spotted the ACH debits in 2020, collaborated with their bank, City Treasurer, and FBI for recovery, and maintain a fraud hotline for reporting.
This case highlights sophisticated “pig butchering” romance frauds targeting institutions, with the city emphasizing robust monitoring while much of the stolen funds were recovered.
