Dismissed US soldier arrested for defrauding Nigerians with claims he could get them visas and green cards

POLICE in Imo State have arrested Garrick Slacks a dismissed US soldier for defrauding Nigerians with fake promises that he will secure visas and other travelling documents for them that will enable them to travel overseas.

In the first such case of its kind, operatives of the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad arrested Mr Slacks in Owerri. According to the police, he is a serial fraudster who had used his position as a foreigner to defraud Nigerians, who are desperate to travel abroad, especially to the US.

A police spokesman said: “He is a serial and sophisticated fraudster and was arrested while he was hurriedly leaving Owerri for Port Harcourt. He is equally impersonating the US Army and Nigerian Army at the same time and his targets are mostly women.

"He would promise them marriage and tell them that he had the capacity to secure their visas and other travelling documents to America with his position as a colonel in the US Marine Army and as an American citizen. He has confessed to the crime and the forensic investigation we have done using his fingerprints revealed that he is a wanted man in California and he only ran to Nigeria in February to continue his heinous crimes."

Exhibits recovered from the suspect, according to the police included cash of over N2m, two pairs of military uniforms, a military fez cap, jungle boots, fake military identity cards, a fake driving licence and a car, which he used in making his fraud look real. When interviewed, Mr Slacks t he was sorry for his actions and was ready to make amends if given the opportunity, admitting that he was dismissed from the US military in 2015 over his involvement in cocaine peddling.

“Just five days ago, he defrauded a young widow N500,000 with a fake promise that he would secure a stay visa for her three children. He was about running away from Owerri before we tracked him and he had promised the lady we used in tracking him that he would marry her after meeting her for the first time.

“All the exhibits we recovered from him are fake. The military identities which he used to make his fraudulent activities look genuine and he was even beating security men to this game until we nabbed him,” the police spokesman added.