'Nigerian Prince' arrested after months-long scam investigation in Slidell
SLIDELL - Police arrested a man, claiming to be a "Nigerian Prince," who scammed people out of thousands of dollars over a period of many months.
67-year-old Michael Neu was charged with 269 counts of wire fraud and money laundering. Financial crimes investigators said Neu is suspected to have been a "middle man," participating in hundreds of financial transactions.
Investigators said the phone and internet scams were designed to con money from victims across the country. Some of the money obtained by Neu was subsequently wired to co-conspirators in Nigeria, according to investigators.
SPD officials said the ongoing investigation is extremely difficult because many leads have led to people who live outside the United States.
Trending News
"If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is," Slidell Police Chief Randy Fandal said. "Never give out personal information over the phone, through email, 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."