A Nigerian man has been jailed for four years in Hong Kong over a global e-mail scam offering a ”secret fortune” of $26-million, a news report said on Thursday. The e-mail went around the world offering to deposit the fortune of a dead South African businessman in return for a fee of $24 000.
Vzeh Benson Ezeyim, who on Wednesday pleaded guilty to attempting to obtain property by deception and was jailed for four years, the newspaper said.
Ezeh also pleaded guilty to possession of a fake diplomatic passport and was given an 18-month concurrent sentence for the offence.
Judge Kevin Browne said Ezeh was part of an ”international conspiracy” and told him: ”It’s abundantly clear to me you’re a man who lives a life of deceit.”
Police have since frozen the e-mail accounts of people suspected to have sent out e-mails offering the bogus fortune, the court heard. – Sapa-DPA