A calculating fraudster nicknamed "Fizzy" because of his love of champagne has seen his millionaire's lifestyle come to an end. Frank Onyeachonam was jailed today for eight years for conning vulnerable pensioners out of their life savings with a bogus lottery scam to fund his high life.
For seven years, Onyeachonam ran the UK operation of a global scam which was orchestrated from his native Nigeria and involved hundreds of perpetrators in several countries, detectives suspect.
He extracted from £2,000 to £600,000 from pensioners, who were deliberately targeted because they were potentially vulnerable to his tactics, bleeding them of their life savings while he enjoyed a life of fast cars, champagne and designer clothes
The ruse - known as an "advance fee" fraud - saw Onyeachonam send victims emails claiming they had won millions of pounds on a non-existent Australian lottery and requesting a charge to release their winnings.
Investigators traced 14 victims - mainly from the US but including one from Britain - who were defrauded of a total of around £900,000.
But detectives believe this is the "tip of the iceberg" with evidence suggesting there may have been as many as 400 victims and the sum may be as high as £30 million.
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