Eight Nigerians suspected to be leaders of a transnational crime group have been arrested by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Hawks, a South African law enforcement agency, over internet scams, money laundering and international wide-scale financial fraud in Cape Town, South Africa.

The suspected criminals, aged between 33 to 52, are said to be members of the Black Axe, a cult group, who prey on widows or divorcees and defraud them of their millions. The suspects, according to IOL, made their victims believe they were in genuine romantic relationships before scamming them out of their hard-earned money.

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The suspects adopted false identities and trolled dating sites and social networking platforms to locate and communicate with their victims.

Colonel Katlego Mogale, Hawks spokesperson, said all the suspects were arrested during a large-scale operation in the early hours of Tuesday and would be charged with various financial offences, including conspiracy to commit wire fraud, mail fraud and money laundering.

“The suspects in this investigation are alleged to have ties to a transnational organised crime syndicate originating in Nigeria,” she said.

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She said the operation involved the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), United States Secret Service (USSS) Investigations and Interpol, with assistance from the Hawks Serious Commercial Crime Investigation Unit, Crime Intelligence (CI), K9, National Intervention Unit, Special Task Force (STF), Tactical Operations Management Section (TOMS), Criminal Record Centre and Cape Town Metro police.

Mogale also said the operation was initiated based on the Mutual Legal Assistance from Central Authorities of the United States of America, which was approved by the Republic of South Africa.

“The fraudsters intimidated and berated their victims, ruined their lives and then disappeared. We are confident that this investigation will have a significant impact on this region and beyond,” said Mogale.