A Nigerian national, Robinson Ibuka Ade, allegedly accused of a romance scam, has jumped out of a window of a third-storey building to escape arrest from the police in Pattaya, Thailand.
Robinson and a 23-year-old Thai woman female national, Thidarat Biraban were caught on July 6 and taken to the police detention, having been accused of jointly defrauding people in an internet romance scam in the country.
The Thai Criminal Court wanted the suspects over the allegations of collaborating to swindle and import fake data into a computer system.
Following their arrest, the Thai police have discovered and retrieved cash of 148,000 Thai baht, 2,000 US dollars, and two ATM cards from them.
They were nabbed after some victims in Nakhon Sri Thammarat filed a complaint, stating that they had lost 905,000 baht from an Instagram account user, “davilalinda720”, who purportedly claimed that he was an American soldier who fought in Syria. The account owner would then pretend to the victim to transfer a large amount of money several times.
According to the initial investigation, at least 40 victims who issued similar reports at Don Mueng Police Station had claimed that they were defrauded by the same Instagram account and lost 112,000 baht in total.
The police then demanded an arrest warrant from the Bangkok Criminal Court. The probe revealed that the account owner was living in a condo in Pattaya.
The Nigerian suspect was apprehended inside the room. He was eventually arrested as he attempted to escape and jumped and fell from the balcony of the third floor of the building. He was seized immediately by police on the ground outside of the condo.
Thidarat, who Robinson seemed willing to leave behind based on leaping off the balcony, with a total amount of 51,000 baht in her possession, was also discovered in the condo.
The couple was taken into police custody at Don Mueng Police Station, while the other victims were also questioned for further information.
According to police, Robinson was given medical treatment for his fall, which he survived without serious injuries.
