Frank Adozi: Romance fraudster conned woman out of £150,000

The woman spent months speaking to the conman over the phone

A romance fraudster who tricked a woman out of more than £150,000 has been jailed for four years.

Frank Adozi, 32, met his victim on a dating website and concocted a story about working on an oil rig with the wrong bank card.

He persuaded the woman to transfer vast amounts, which he spent on luxuries.

Nottinghamshire Police said they believed at least six other women had been tricked by the "prolific" conman.

Adozi, of Kneeton Vale, Sherwood, Nottingham, admitted fraud by false representation at Nottingham Crown Court on Friday.

Fictional flight

The force said the conman struck up an online relationship with the woman in January 2021 using the alias Mark McCarthy.

After gaining her trust, he convinced his victim he desperately needed cash to send to his daughter and pay for travel costs.

The woman sent him 34 payments totalling £157,332 over a two-month period but expected to be paid back.

Instead, Adozi used her money to buy designer clothes, a high-end Range Rover and large amounts of jewellery, which he planned to launch a business with.

The victim realised she had been scammed later that year when she looked up a flight he said he was due to board and found it did not exist.

She alerted police and he was arrested in January after being stopped by officers for driving offences.

The force said Akozi was a prolific fraudster who had previously been jailed for four and a half years for similar offences before being released in 2020.

Inquiries found he had targeted at least six other women, with at least four revealing they had been duped into transferring significant amounts of cash.

'Cynical disregard'

The woman who lost £157,332 told officers: "He explained to me he was born in Australia and grew up in the United States.

"He said in 2005 he relocated to the UK to be with his wife Lisa who had now sadly died.

"He had a 13-year-old daughter Tamara who was attending a boarding school in New York.

"He told me he was thinking of leaving the dating site as he was worried about attracting the wrong kind of person who would just be after his money.

"He came across as a nice family man who was down-to-earth and genuine."

Nottinghamshire Police said it was one of the worst cases of romance fraud they had dealt with.

Det Sgt Ashley Xavier said: "Adozi demonstrated a cynical disregard for his victims, grooming them with romantic promises before dishonestly persuading them to provide him with financial assistance."