Cameroonian conmen jailed over black money scam

Two Cameroonian men have been jailed for two years after admitting to obtaining money on false pretences and to making a fraudulent gain through the so-called ‘black-money scam’.

Thiam Serge Ronny, 27, and Elvis Achu Minang, 32, both of Cameroon also pleaded guilty to using false passports and forged documents. The accused also admitted to forging documents after arriving in Malta using fake passports and other personal documents.

Sources said that after carrying out a surprise inspection in a hotel in Qawra, police found the accused washing money and dying papers with iodine.

Inside the room, the police found a suitcase containing foil, black paper money, ink, liquids in bottles, gloves, masks and an envelope containing blank white papers, the size of paper money with shades of the 100, 200, 500 Euro notes.

The men, who arrived in Malta last Monday, had fake ID cards and passports with different names, and one of the accused used the same photo on different documents.

The “Black Money Scam” and its namesake, the “white money scam” is widespread and generally involves nationals from Cameroon, Nigeria and Ivory Coast.

On Tuesday, two other men were remanded in custody after pleading not guilty to trying to defraud a Maltese man out of €250,000 in a similar scam.

The Cameroonian and South African duo asked their victim for €250,000 in exchange for a briefcase full of banknote-sized paper dyed black, and claimed that they could not export the money due to laws in their homeland.

However, the victim is said to have informed the police of the scam, leading to the subsequent arrest of the accused.

In September, two other Cameroonians were also remanded in custody over the ‘black money scam’.

Inspector Rennie Stivala prosecuted.