A Nigerian man has been arrested in the United Kingdom following a romance scheme that drained more than $1.3 million from the city of Norfolk's corporate account through over 900 fraudulent transactions, according to federal prosecutors and court records.
A grand jury indicted Habeeb Anibaba, 29, on bank fraud charges. Authorities used his Nigerian Voter Card to track him down, and he was arrested by authorities in the UK. Court records show the United States is seeking to extradite Anibaba from the U.S.
The scheme lasted nearly a year and involved at least 6 women between the ages of 20 and 30 who were used to transfer money out of the city's corporate account and into different accounts, according to the documents. Gift cards and cryptocurrency were also used in the scheme.
It states each woman told authorities a similar story — they met a man on a dating website who said he needed help transferring funds and in some cases he said he was living overseas. The fraudulent transactions ranged from small amounts to some as high as $20,000.
City of Norfolk leaders contacted the FBI after the bank notified them of the missing money, court records state.
The city of Norfolk issued the following statement:
"The City was made aware of fraudulent ACH Debits in 2020 and worked quickly with the bank, the City Treasurer and FBI, allowing for recovery of funds. The City has procedures and mechanisms in place to monitor and detect fraudulent activity. To further encourage the early reporting of fraud, waste and abuse, Norfolk City Council authorized the Office of City Auditor to implement and operate the City of Norfolk Fraud Hotline. The Fraud, Waste and Abuse Hotline may be accessed by calling (757) 664-4003 or through a confidential Fraud Hotline Form."
Crime analyst Richard James said, "The victim in this case is going to be the taxpayers and the victims in the case are going to be the banking institution.”
Court records are vague about exactly how the city's bank account information was obtained. James said there is likely a deliberate reason for that.
"I think that the government or the FBI doesn't really want to put out methods that people use to hack accounts," James said.
With hundreds of transactions taking place over nearly a year, James said more checks and balances should be in place to protect taxpayer money.
"Someone should have noticed something particular about these ACH account withdrawings from the city and either someone from the banking institution or someone from the city’s accounting probably should have started noticing this and did an audit on it earlier, I think," James said.
