Published 1st Jul, 2022

By Tola Owoyele

The Black Axe, a notorious Nigerian confraternity, has been found to have infiltrated banks and IT firms in Ireland with its members so it could successfully launder over €14 million, being proceeds of various fraudulent schemes.

According to The Irish Sun, the organisation sent people to the Irish institutions to help in moving the funds, mostly in cash, realised from its global operations which include romance fraud and other fraudulent schemes.

Under Operation Skein, an investigation into worldwide invoice-redirect fraud in Ireland, over 400 suspects have been identified by The Garda, the country’s economic crime bureau. Close to 100 arrests have also been made through the help of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Interpol.

“The Black Axe gang are massive and they sent hundreds of people to Ireland to facilitate their scams,” a source said.

“They send people here to open accounts, work in banks and in firms that can help them launder the proceeds of their criminality.”

Latest statistics from the Irish bureau revealed that 31 cases of fraud were recorded with a total loss of €812,715 by victims between January and May.

It was further revealed that 23 out of the victims were female while the other eight were male. Most of the victims were said to have met the fraudsters on dating sites and applications.

Giuseppe Diviccaro, a 45-year-old Italian popularly called The Banker, is believed to be working for the Black Axe in the scheme and has been arrested by Irish authorities.

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