Share this article Share ‘I was hoodwinked, buy cvv I was coerced, convinced or c2bit otherwise led to believe that something was going to happen that never happened.’
The retiree’s woes began after he received an email in November 2013 from someone posing as a Nigerian Government official.
Soon he was in almost constant communication with the scammer who referred to himself only as ‘Bricks Manuel’.
Peter Strand (pictured) was conned out of $400,000 and spent 18 months behind bars in Sydney accused of importing 2.5kg of cocaine in April 2014
Nweke was convicted of drug importation in 2018 and will be sentenced next month for his role in the network
Mr Strand’s ill-health and overt use of an oxygen pipe was cunningly targeted as it made him the perfect potential smuggler.
He was told the drugs were chemicals used in producing money – a common tactic used to get naive victims to smuggle contraband.
‘Supposedly this cash that I was going to be getting was marked with some type of dye, which needed to be cleaned off in order for buy cvv me to get clean cash,’ he said.
Phone taps inside Villawood Detention Centre (pictured) reportedly revealed Nweke’s actions as part of a global scamming network fleecing victims of millions
Nweke was later recorded by NSW Police using smuggled-in phones to coordinate free dumps with pin accomplices across the globe to lure Mr Strand – and the cocaine – to Sydney.
His arrest followed three similar trips to South America and involved police finding the cocaine inside two protein powder containers.
Mr Strand CC was eventually found not guilty of drug importation after a trial in the NSW District Court – but not before spending 18 months in jail.
Nweke was found guilty of drug importation in 2018 and will be sentenced next month.
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