Explosive texts show how a Sydney woman allegedly signed up to be part of an African romance scam, posing as a wealthy mining heiress to fleece a reclusive American doctor of his life savings.
Rebecca Jade Silk, 34, a teacher at a swimming school on the city’s northern beaches, is accused of traveling by plane to the United States posing as ‘Grace Erskine’ as part of a romance scam led by a gang of the West African nation of Ghana.
The alleged scam was busted by Ghana’s Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO) after the 75-year-old American doctor, whose name Daily Mail Australia chose not to reveal, transferred more than A$1 million overseas, prompting his alarmed family to call. the fbi.
Police documents, first reported by CBS News and seen by Daily Mail Australia, show alleged WhatsApp message conversations between Ms Silk and gang boss Alfred Ayivor in February 2019.
There, Silk asks the boss: “So what’s my part?”
“How about $100,000?” Ayivor responded.
“$250,000,” Seda said. “Without me, no one gets anything.”
He then allegedly warned that he could end the apparent scam unless he was paid properly. “I could always call and say it was a scam.”
Rebecca Jade Silk, a teacher at a swimming school on Sydney’s northern beaches, is involved in a romance scam investigation by African authorities.
Police documents, seen by Daily Mail Australia, show alleged WhatsApp message conversations between Ms Silk and the gang boss in Ghana, West Africa.
Rebecca Silk was hired to play the role of an attractive mining heiress, Ghanaian authorities allege
Rebecca demanded more money for her part in the scam, according to text messages seen by Daily Mail Australia
In another series of messages with Ayivor, Silk describes his victim as “disgusting”
The EOCO alleges that after the deal with Ayivor was closed, Silk flew to the United States and met with the unsuspecting radiologist.
Ayivor, posing as ‘Grace’, had been texting the doctor daily for months in an attempt to make him believe he had a future with the stunning Australian, who, so the story went, had a gold mine.
The photos showed Silk with her family, staying at home and cooking for the doctor, all while she showed off her international travels by posting photos of her lavish world trip on Instagram.
He also allegedly later participated in the scam in Ghana, accompanying the injured American to the country’s capital city, Accra.
Ghanaian authorities claim she told Ayivor: “It’s so disgusting… I won’t spread my legs for him.”
In Accra, they met with fake lawyers and business executives in a setup masterminded by Ayivor, who posed as their driver.
Convinced that the elaborate scam was real and that Grace was a mining heiress who inherited the family business in Ghana, the doctor transferred large sums of money for a stake in his supposedly non-existent gold mine.
He hoped to make a profit on his investment and prepare him and his love for life.
Rebecca Jade Silk, Australian swim school teacher and alleged participant in African romance scam, with American doctor who was allegedly attacked by Ghanaian gang
Rebecca was enjoying international travel at the time the alleged scam occurred. Up in Bangkok
It is not known how Rebecca allegedly became involved with African scammers, but Ghanaian authorities obtained a series of Whatsapp messages between her and Alfred Ayivor. Alfred Ayivor, above, posed as a driver in Ghana to keep an eye on his alleged victim.
But after learning of the large fund transfers, his worried family contacted the FBI, who handed the file over to Ghana’s organized crime unit, sparking an international investigation.
Alfred Ayivor was arrested, but died of an unknown illness before being tried.
It was through his seized devices that conversations between him and Silk were discovered.
Silk has not been charged with any crime, but remains a person of interest to Ghana police.
She did not respond when asked questions by Daily Mail Australia.
But her boyfriend, Tendia Tudela, claimed that his girlfriend did not voluntarily participate in the scam and did not benefit financially.
“They had something against her,” Tudela told Daily Mail Australia. “She didn’t get that money.”
When asked why text messages between Silk and Ayivor appeared to show her demanding a bigger cut, he said Silk had done it to try to “dissuade them from asking her to leave.”
The Australian Federal Police declined to comment, saying it cannot comment on investigations by Ghanaian authorities.
