A BOGUS diplomat scammed an Ealing woman out of thousands of pounds by helping to convince her she had found love.

He manipulated the woman, aged in her 60s, into believing that an American marine called General James Krulak wanted to move to the UK and marry her.

Robinson Agbonifoayetan, 32, of Sutcliffe Road, Welling, Bexley, led the woman to believe that General Krulak needed her help to transfer a box containing $8.5million from Greece to the UK, supposedly gifted by a family after he saved their lives while serving in Afghanistan.

He asked her to pay fees for its transfer, on the basis that they would be reimbursed once it was in the UK.

She used up her life savings, pawned jewellery, sold her car and took out loans to pay around £260,000 over the course of six months, after she was contacted by a different suspect posing as ‘General Krulak’ via Skype.

He would speak to her several times a day, paying her countless compliments and seemingly confiding in her about tragic family events, like his parents and sister dying in a car crash.

Some of the fees were paid to Agbonifoayetan in London, who used a forged United Nations identify card to pretend he was a diplomat called Christopher Williams, when actually he worked as an engineer.

The victim took the courageous step of reporting her situation to the police, and Agbonifoayetan was arrested while trying to get a flight to Nigeria at Heathrow airport in December last year.

Today he was jailed for three years at Isleworth Crown Court, for two counts of fraud by false representation. He admitted to personally defrauding women of almost £42,000 of the overall cash.

Investigating officer, Detective Constable Nick Curtis, of the Met's fraud and cyber crime unit FALCON, said: "Romance scammers manipulate people, playing on their emotions before extorting them of more and more money.

"Anyone can fall foul of a romance scam, regardless of age or gender. Victims often feel too embarrassed to tell police or a trusted person.

“Sometimes they want to continue believing that the suspect is who they say they are, because the reality of being scammed out of thousands of pounds is too hard to contemplate.

"But I urge anyone who thinks they may have been a victim to report it to police now. You may feel that you are betraying someone you love by doing this, but if that person really is who they say they are, they would not be asking you for the money and they would understand your concerns about such requests."

A second victim, a woman in her 50s from Devon, was sold a similar line by a ‘General James Raul’ and handed over £22,000.

Detectives are now seeking a compensation order to help the victims' recoup some of their money.

Enquiries to identify other suspects involved in the scam continue.

Police believe others may still be being scammed by Agbonifoayetan's associates and are appealing for anyone who has been a victim of this scam or a similar version to call Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or, if the crime is in action,to call police on 999.