A Nigerian student who posed as a diplomat to fleece a vulnerable Brisbane woman out of $105,000 via a romance scam has avoided spending more time in jail.

April 2, 2020

A Nigerian student who posed as a diplomat to scam a vulnerable Brisbane woman after she had been scammed by another man posing as a US Air Force officer has avoided spending more time in jail.

Cosmos Kelechi Emeh, 33, pleaded guilty on Thursday to defrauding the Kuraby woman of more than $100,000 via an internet romance hoax in 2018.

Emeh contacted the woman part way through the sophisticated scam, which had already defrauded the 34-year-old out of more than $250,000, the Brisbane District Court heard.

He identified himself as diplomat Mark David and asked for a further $105,000, which she withdrew from her parent’s account without permission and paid in cash.

Before this, the woman had been contacted via social media by another man posing as Matthew Dobbin, a US officer serving with the United Nations.

The pair sent each other photos and professed their love after just three days of communication, Judge Michael Byrne QC said.

“By various ruses concerning the necessity to move his valuables, including gold bars that he purported to have been paid with, he approached her to take possession of his luggage,” he said.

“He said she was the only person he trusted.”

The woman was then contacted by another man posing as a diplomat, who asked for money to pay fees to help her lover.

All told she paid a little over $267,000.

Emeh then came on the scene and said he was the replacement for the first diplomat.

He told the woman she would need to pay for a “terrorist certificate” and not to contact Australian authorities because her actions may be considered money laundering.

After collecting cash, Emeh asked for a further $200,000 but police arrested him before he could pick it up.

Judge Byrne said Emeh was not the mastermind in the scheme and it appeared likely he had “given way to temptation” in a bid to raise money to pay his university fees.

“(But) you became involved to fleece an already vulnerable woman who had lost a large amount of money,” he said.

“Your conduct is serious. It caused a serious detriment.”

Emeh was sentenced to three-and-a-half years’ imprisonment, suspended immediately after the 448 days he had spent in pre-sentence custody was taken into account.

Judge Byrne said it was likely he would now fail the immigration department’s character test and eventually be deported.