Chisom Udechime, a Lagos State-based marketing professional, has accused Skenpe Daniel, his Mali-based childhood friend, of duping him out of N550,000.

Udechime told FIJ that the money, sent in three batches between January 30 and February 1, 2023, was meant for a cryptocurrency transaction.

He said Daniel had agreed to change the money to West African CFA franc, Mali’s currency, before sending it to Talos, a crypto trading platform in the US, on his behalf.

“The overseas company would have carried out a cryptocurrency transaction for me once they received the fiat.”

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Udechime explained that since crypto-related services were not allowed in Nigeria, the most viable alternative was to make the transaction in a country that supports cryptocurrency.

“It’s easier and cheaper to source for forex or foreign currency for crypto trade from a country that does not restrict it,” he said.

“So, on January 30, I sent N200,000 to a UBA account he provided. Later that same day, I sent another N300,000 to the same UBA account. Then on February 1, I sent N50,000 to an Access Bank account he sent,” said Udechime.

From the screenshots obtained by FIJ, the UBA account belonged to one Blessing Chinecherem Kalu, while the name attached to the Access Bank account was Bernard Chidiebere Achiga.

After Daniel confirmed the receipt of the N550,000, he failed to send Udechime any receipt to proof that he had sent the money to the US company.

“He claimed that the CFA-to-USD exchangers he paid the money to said that they sent the money but didn’t give him any receipt,” Udechime told FIJ.

Noting that his Mali-based friend had lived outside Nigeria for some years, he said they had both maintained occasional communication on Facebook and WhatsApp.

“He has been out of this country for years, and he usually moved to different countries, but he recently moved to Mali. And he was still in Mali when we did the transaction,” he said.

“lt’s unfortunate that I was online on Facebook when he reached out to me in January. After realising that he was in Mali, I told him I might need his help in sending money to USA for crypto trade.

“We had an agreement that he would get a whopping 50 percent of the profit made because he would help me source for the forex to pay the trading company. Meanwhile, the capital would completely be from me.”

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Rather than update Udechime on the transaction’s progress, Daniel stopped responding to his friend’s texts and calls on Facebook and WhatsApp.

“If the claim that the USD exchangers did not give him a receipt was true, why did his attitude change? Why did he stop replying to me five days after I sent him the money? Why did he stop answering his calls and responding to messages?” Asked Udechime.

Udechime blamed himself for making such a risky move with that kind of amount as he told FIJ that it was obvious that Daniel duped him.

FIJ could not reach Daniel for comments as the messages sent to him on Wednesday had not been responded to at press time.