• by Ray Schultz , January 2, 2018

The "Nigerian Prince" scam, an email fraud so widespread that is now part of folklore, unraveled a bit last week when an alleged perpetrator was arrested in Louisiana.

But he isn’t Nigerian, nor is he a prince: He is Michael Neu, age 67, who acted as a middleman in the scheme and now faces 269 counts of wire fraud and money laundering, according to the Slidell, Louisiana Police Department. 

The arrest follows an 18-month investigation, the department says in a Facebook post.

According to the post, Neu participated in “hundreds of financial transactions, involving phone and internet scams, designed to con money from victims across the United States.”  He subsequently wired some of this money to co-conspirators in Nigeria, it adds.

“The investigation is on-going, but is extremely difficult as many leads have led to individuals who live outside of the United States,” the post continues.

A police spokesperson has not responded to request for additional information, and whether Neu has a prior criminal record, how police were able to tie him to the scheme, whether any federal agencies are involved in the probe, and Neu’s response to the charges remain unknown.

The police posted photos of Neu being taken into custody.

The “Nigerian Prince” email typically claims that the recipient has been named the beneficiary in a will, but that financial information is needed to speed the transfer of the inheritance and confirm the person’s identity. Victims have been swindled out of millions of dollars.

Slidell Police Chief Randy Fandal urges consumers to be wary of emails that make promises.

“If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is,” Fandal states. “Never give out personal information over the phone, through e-mail, cash checks for other individuals, or wire large amounts of money to someone you don’t know. 99.9 percent of the time, it’s a scam.”