A Nigerian identified only as Kinsgley O. has been arrested for swindling a female Hong Kong dentist of $2.5 million in a romance scam.

Mr Kingsley, alongside four of his accomplices, was arrested in Esenyurt, a municipality and district of Istanbul Province, Turkey.

Haberler reported on Thursday that the suspects were accused of “defrauding a Hong Kong dentist Siu P.Y.F. of $2.5 million under the pretense of marriage.”

The 43-year-old Nigerian, who posed as an American named Richard, promised to marry the Hong Kong dentist when they started communicating online in 2020.

After convincing her that they were in a romantic relationship that would end in marriage, Mr Kingsely struck, lying to his victim that he was in Istanbul for an investment for which he needed money.

The Hong Kong dentist, who was looking forward to marrying Mr Kingsley, sent a total of $2.5 million in installments to different bank accounts in Turkey between 2020 and 2022.

After swindling his victim of $2.5 million, Mr Kingsley stopped answering her calls, forcing his victim to alert security agencies to trace the bank accounts through which the money was collected.

According to the report, teams from the Istanbul Police Department Public Order Branch Directorate Fraud Bureau scrutinised the bank accounts to which the money was sent. In the first operation, five suspects who owned the accounts were detained.

It added, “While four of the suspects claimed they did not remember the incident, one suspect confessed to handing over the money that came into the bank account to a Nigerian person he knew as ‘Richard.'”

Further police investigations showed that the cyber fraudster, who portrayed himself as a wealthy American businessman, was actually Kingsley O., a 43-year-old Nigerian national.

Mr Kingsely and his accomplices have been charged to court. He, however, denied the allegations.