Nigerian student convicted in Oradea: accomplice in online fraud scheme that deceived four women
Oradea District Court has sentenced a Nigerian student to 2 years suspended imprisonment for complicity in online fraud. Four women were manipulated through Facebook and WhatsApp.
Nigerian student from Cluj convicted for online fraud targeting women from Bihor
Oradea District Court on Tuesday sentenced Ehigiator Marvis Idemudia, a 31-year-old Nigerian student at the Faculty of Political Science of Babeș-Bolyai University in Cluj, to 2 years suspended imprisonment for complicity in continuous fraud. According to G4Media, citing Bihoreanul, the young man aided multiple unidentified scammers in collecting money from four women manipulated through Facebook and WhatsApp.
Prosecutors from the Office of the Oradea District Court sent him to trial in August 2025. The victims were convinced they were supporting doctors on UN missions, a well-known artist, or individuals facing financial or medical difficulties.
Elaborate scenarios, months of messages and promises
The fraud schemes took place between December 2023 and March 2025. The individuals who actually conducted conversations with the victims were not identified; the judge found they were most likely located in Nigeria. Each scheme began the same way: a friendship request, followed by weeks or months of messages, confidences and promises.
A woman from Oradea was approached in spring 2024 by an individual who presented himself as a surgeon at a hospital in Mogadishu, Somalia, where he worked under the auspices of the United Nations.
The longest fraud lasted two years and began on Christmas itself, in 2023. A woman from Petrileni, Bihor County, received a friendship request on Facebook from a profile using the real name and photograph of a Romanian singer she had admired since childhood. Convinced she was the artist's girlfriend, the woman borrowed money from CAR to send him funds.
Conversations and screenshots found in the student's phone
Of the four victims, two women from Bihor constituted themselves as civil parties and requested compensation for damages. The other two were heard as witnesses, refusing to file criminal complaints or seek damages. One lost 10,000 lei, the other 5,000 lei.
Idemudia denied any involvement, but the judge rejected his defence. Direct conversations with some of the victims were discovered on his phone, discussions about bank transfers and a screenshot taken immediately after a payment of 2,000 euros was deposited in an account.
Sentence and civil obligations
The court imposed a sentence of 2 years suspended imprisonment, with a supervision period of 4 years, during which Idemudia must follow a social reintegration programme and carry out 100 days of unpaid work in service to the community.
The student was ordered to pay damages to the two women from Bihor: he owes the woman from Oradea 6,800 euros, a sum that went directly into his account, and the woman from Petrileni 44,500 lei and 2,200 euros, money transferred to accounts he managed jointly with two colleagues. Idemudia must also pay 6,000 lei in court costs to the state and 4,200 lei representing the legal fee of one victim's lawyer.
The sentence is not final and may be appealed within 10 days of notification.
Source: G4Media