£2,500 jewels scam was like a movie plot'

Swindlers posed as diplomat & jeweller to con property developer

- By NEAL KEELING

A MAN says he was swindled out of £2,500 in a sophisticated gems scam.

Somto Orajuba claims criminals posing as a diplomat and his staff member, as well as a bogus jeweller, swindled him out of the cash.

The 29-year-old was first contacted after putting a house up for sale online before he was gradually lured into a deal to make a quick profit on precious stones.

Police are investigating. The scam echoes rackets in 2013 and 2016, in which taxi drivers in Manchester and Bolton and car owners in Longsight - were ripped off.

Property developer Mr Orajuba, from Bury, said: "I got a message on Facebook from a guy. He had seen I was selling a house in Burnley and wanted to view it, so we arranged a viewing.

"He was about 5ft 5in and a Zambian guy. He was in his 50s and well dressed."

Mr Orajuba said the man offered him £20,000 over the asking price for the property.

"He told me the reason he wanted to do that was because he had a diplomat boss from Zambia, who lived in Manchester and was buying a lot of properties," he added.