You've had them, I've had them and hopefully you delete them. I'm talking about those scamming letters from some African dictatorship country pleading for assistance to liberate Millions of dollars from the country. What do you get from it - a percentage (normally about 10%) of the funds. Sounds too good to be true ? Well it is - wake up and smell the coffee.

I've started to split it up onto separate pages.... Go to Page 1 Page 2 Page 3

Thanks to Mike Jackson for providing the email to start the trace...

5th March 2003 -03:56 AM

Dear

I am Mrs Munirat Abacha, the wife of Mohammed Abacha, the son of the late
head of state of Federal Republic of Nigeria - General Sani Abacha. I am
contacting you in view of the fact that we will be of great assistance to
each other like wise developingacordial relationship.My husband along with
his late father looted over one hundred and fifty million (U$150m ) united
statesdollars in Nigeria Government fortunately. Mohammed my husband has
ELEVEN million and Eight hundred thousand united states Dollars cash
(US$11.8m),which he intended to use for investment purpose overseas. This
money is kept in a private erected security safe in my village. It is only
my husband and my self that know where the money is kept. Due to the current
situation in the country concerning government attitude towards my family,
it has become quite impossible for us to make use of this money within,
thus, we seek your assistance to transfer this money out of Nigeria. My
family is currently being probed by this present government for our alleged
involvement in misappropriation of public funds during my father - in -
law's regime. Towards this effect, an embargo restricting my family
members on financial transaction have been placed on us and it is in force.
My husband ( Mohammed ) was arrested and detained in connection to the above
and other activities of our late father though he was released on probation
late last year. No record ever existed concerning this money, neither is the
money traceable by the government because there is no documentation
concerning the funds in the Federal Treasury. Bearing in mind that your
assistance is needed to transfer this fund, we propose a commission of 10 %
(Ten Percent ) of the total sum to you for the
expected service and assistance. On your positive consent. I shall expect
you to contact me urgently to enable us
discuss about this transaction. Your urgent response is highly needed. I
must use this opportunity to implore you to exercise utmost indulgence to
keep this matter extraordinary confidential, while I await your prompt
response.

Best regards

Mrs MUNIRAT ABACHA

This is the typical sort of letter that you may receive in your email.

5th March 2003 08:30AM

Munirat,

I read with interest of your husband and fathers looting and am intriqued to see what I can offer in the way of assistance to liberate these funds.

I would also like to know where you got my email address from as its generally not on public display.
Awaiting your reply.

Regards
Steve

My replies will be in Italics. I use a hotmail account to send these emails.

I chose Steve Thomson as my nom de plume for no particular reason apart from I was listening to a Steve Ray Vaughan LP at the time and on the desk was a Thomson directory.

5th March 18:00pm

DEAR STEVE,

THANK YOU FOR YOUR PROMPT REPLY.

I KNOW THAT YOU MIGHT BE CURIOUS AS TO HOW I GOT YOUR
EMAIL CONTACT,I ACTUALY WAS SEARCHING FOR ONE OF MY
LATE FATHER INLAW'S CLOSE CONFIDANT AND BUSINESS
ASSORCIATE BUT OUT OF MY FRUSTRATION AND DESPERATNESS
WHEN I SAW YOUR CONTACT I DECIDED TO FORWARD THE
PROPOSAL TO YOU BELEIVING IT MIGHT BE OF INTEREST YOU
TO ASSIST ME.

LIKE I MENTIONED IN MY PROPOSAL LETTER TO YOU,THE
MONEY WAS DEPOSITED WITH A SECURITY COMPANY HERE IN
NIGERIA.I'LL LIKE TO CHANGE THE CERTIFICATE OF
DEPOSIT TO YOUR NAME AND THEREAFTER ASK THE SECURITY
COMPANY TO SEND THE CONSIGNMENT CONTAINING THE MONEY
OUT OF NIGERIA AS PHOTOGRAPHIC MATIRIALS,THIS MEASURE
IS TAKEN FOR SECURITY REASONS.

DUE TO THE PROBLEM WE ARE PASSING THROUGH IN OUR
FAMILY, I WILL NOT BE ABLE TO HAVE A DIRECT TELEPHONE
DISCUSSION WITH YOU SO AS TO REALY GIVE YOU THE
DETAILS OF THIS TRANSACTION HENCE,I INTRODUCE MY
ATTORNEY MR. CHARLES NWACHUKWU WHO WILL GIVE YOU ALL
THE DETAILS CONCERNING THIS DEAL.THERE IS NO RISK
SITUATION AS THE MONEY WILL BE SENT OUT OF NIGERIA FOR
YOU TO GO AND CLAIM IN ONE OF THE SECURITY COMPANY'S
AFFILIATE CENTER OUT SIDE MY COUNTRY.

MEANWHILE YOU CAN CALL OUR ATTORNEY WHO HAS EVERY
DETAIL INFORMATION ABOUT THIS TRANSACTION. IF YOU HAVE
ACCEPTED TO ASSIST ME YOU CAN CALL HIM ON HIS PRIVATE
TELEPHONE. HE WILL ALSO HELP IN CHANGING ALL THE
DOCUMENT REGARDING THIS TRANSACTION TO YOUR NAME TO
ENABLE YOU STAND AS THE BENEFICIARY.

HIS TELEPHONE NUMBER IS 234 803 3351 231 FAX 234 1 759
6435 EMAIL ADDRESS:xxxxxxxxx@yahoo.com YOU CAN AS
WELL FORWARD YOUR CONTACT INFORMATION AND INFORM ME
WHERE YOU ARE LOCATED RIGHT NOW.

I WILL INFORM HIM TO EXPECT YOUR CALL.

I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO A CODIAL FAMILY AND BUSINESS
RELATIONSHIP.PLEASE I WANT YOU TO HENCE FORTH DIRECT
ALL YOUR MAIL VIA THIS ADDRESS COS' ITS MORE SECURED
AND PRIVATE.

REGARDS

MRS. MUNIRAT MOHAMMED ABACHA

Bloody hell, he's quick off the mark.

Just in case you're wondering - I don't know her father in law.

If you read her letter carefully it was put in a safe in a village - not a security company.

Cool name... Isn't that one of those Karate sticks with the chains ?

I'll check these numbers later but they are valid Nigerian numbers.. I've also removed the email address just in case someone alerts him.. :)

Whats codial ? I hate the use of COS' instead of because.

We've now got a middle name...

March 5th 2003 19:45

Munirat,

I take it this is your first name ? I question this as its the second email address that I've used to contact you.

Regardless, thank you very much for the details - I will indeed contact your solicitor at the earliest opportunity, I tried calling him this evening but was unable to get through to Nigeria (some problem on the lines it seems) I will drop him an email after I have sent this one. I take it MR. CHARLES NWACHUKWU is trustworthy as I've dealt with some dodgy solicitors in the past.

For your information, I'm currently located in the UK in South East England. My telephone number is (+44) 01622 654810 I think you need to drop the initial 0 of the 01622 to reach me from outside the UK.

Are you looking for me to receive the "photographic materials" items in the UK or is there something else required of me.

Thanks again.

Steve

For your information - the telephone number is valid, unfortunately its the Fraud Squad at Maidstone Police who specialise in the 419 Scam. The guy who should answer the phone is Mr Biddulph during normal office hours. Previous ones I've done have never called any number to check. But we'll see.. :)

Charles,

I am making contact with you on the instruction of MRS. MUNIRAT MOHAMMED ABACHA who advises me that your handling a personal matter on her behalf.

I tried calling you on your personal number (provided by Munirat) but there seems to be a problem on the international lines as I keep getting a busy signal.

I'm led to believe that you can advise on what is required to assist in this matter. I'm led to understand that to assist I have to become a beneficiary, can you explain what is meant by this - do I just have to receive some goods for this to be accomplished ?

I take it you work normal office hours (9-5pm), excuse my ignorance but I don't know what the time difference is between the UK and Nigeria.

My email address is as above, and my contact telephone number is (+44) 01622 654810. I think you need to remove the 0 on the 01622.

If you can explain what is required from my point of view to assist I would be forever in your debt.

Regards
Steve

Sent to the attorney geezer (which is probably the same person)

Just how easy is it for me to get my money ?

They work on the same time zone so lets see.

6th March 2003 13:30

Attn: Steve Thompson
From: Charles Nwachukwu

Dear Steve,

Your mail has been received.

Mrs. Abacha told me about you yesterday and your
intended assistance towards her plan of getting the
money out of Nigeria.

The money as you must have known from her{Mrs.
Munirat} was deposited with a freighting company who
will airlift the consignment to one of their affiliate
centers in Madrid Spain, Amsterdam Holland or Ghana
here in West Africa.

However, what you are required to do now is to forward
your full name and address, first two pages of your
international passport or drivers license{photocopies}
this I'll help me to change the name of the
beneficiary/recipient to your name and thereafter ask
the security company to airlift the consignment to one
of there affiliate centers as i stated above.you will
choose one of the centers that may be convenient for
you to go and claim the consignment.

When the consignment arrives any of the centers that
you I'll choose, you will be contacted to inform them
of your arrival for the claim.

If you forward the required information to me today by
tomorrow i should be able to conclude the process of
changing the document to your favor after which i will
now meet Mrs. Munirat for the air lifting charges
which will be paid to the security company before
sending out the consignment to any of the above
mentioned centers.

Approximately, this should be concluded before the end
of next week.

The telephone number 234 803 3351 231 is my personal
handy, I can be reaced at any time except when I am in
the court.

Best wishes

Charles Nwachukwu Esq.

N/B: I will send to you a power of attorney that i
will prepare to sign and fax back to my fax line.The
power of attorney will be used in dravting an
agreement which will enable you take full responsility
of the consignment.

That was good of her wasn't it.

Its now with a freighting company not a safe nor a security company. I wish they'd get their facts straight. Which place should we go to this time ?

Which one do you think I should send....

Looks like I've got some work to do - now where is Adobe Photoshop.

Sounds fair enough - however if he was a proper solicitor this small fact should not have been an NB.

March 6th 20:15

Charles,

Thank you for filling in some of the blanks in this business. It becomes clearer what I'm required to do.

On the matter of remote clearing houses - do we have any choice on which one it will go to - I'm thinking that the European locations would be easier from my logistical point of view.

I've attached a scanned copy of my passport as requested and my full postal address is :

Steve Thompson
Court House
3 Palace Avenue
Maidstone
Kent
UK
ME15 6NF

Do I need to involve a solicitor at my end or are you capable of handling all the legal aspects of this matter.

Yours faithfully
Steve

The address is the court house in Maidstone next door to the town police station.

Obviously I'd be a complete idiot if I sent him a copy of my passport so I dug out an old one I had, scanned it in made some modifications to the names, dates etc and twenty minutes later I am now Steve Thompson or I would be if it was my picture. The picture was taken out of a magazine I had lying on my desk. Oh and before your start the passport number is incorrect. I think it would pass at a first glance. Lets see what Charlie thinks.

Saturday March 8th 13:30

Attn: Steve Thomson
From: Charles Nwachukwu

Dear Sir,

Yes I got your mail but was busy to reply immediately.

You do not need any attorney in your end, All you are
required is to inform me if you will be confinient to
travel to Spain or Holland to collect the consignment.

I have started arrenging all the necessery documents
including the power of attorney that you sign and fax
back to me to enable me draft an agreement with the
freighting company after which i will fax to you all
the documents including the airway bill.

Please do forward your fax number to me.

My best for you.

Charles

His email says 13:35 -05:00 PST where does he think he is.

A solicitor that works on a Saturday - well that will be a first...

So which place should we go to. I've done Amsterdam a few times now so I think we'll do Spain. I wonder if its the same guys. What happened last time was I ended up having to contact the clearance house in Amsterdam to arrange the meet. Always on a pay as you go mobile phone though which makes it hard for the authorities to track down.

Saturday March 8th 14:41

Charles,

I didn't expect to hear from you today - I thought all solicitors had the weekend off. The ones in the UK certainly do.

I'm glad I don't have to arrange a solicitor, that puts me more at ease.

I've been to Holland a few times in the past but I've hardly been to Spain so I'd like to combine a bit of pleasure and a bit of business. Where about in Spain is the collection location - I've been to Madrid and Barcelona previously and enjoyed them but I would like to see a bit of the coast line at some stage - Marbella etc ? Please advise where the Spanish location is. Which courier company are you planning to use ?

My fax number is +44 (0)1622 xxxxxx - I believe that you need to remove the 0 on the 01622 to reach me. I'll be awaiting the airbill documents.

Awaiting further instructions

Regards

Steve

Now the destination is going to be where he has a man (or two) in Spain who's also in on the deal. That or it's the place where Charles actually is. We'll find out - I'll no doubt have to make some calls to Spain to speak to the clearance house and "arrange" some travel plans.

March 10th 08:00

Attn: Steve Thomsom
From: Charles Nwachukwu

I attended a family friend's wedding on Saturday and
went for church service on Sunday thats why I could
not talk to you.

The affiliate center of the freighting company in
Spain is in madrid. Due to the nature of the
transaction and deals the company carry on they
airlift the consignment out as diplomatic cargo and
for security reasons may not disclose to any body the
courier service they intend to use for fear of
serbotage.

But be sure that as soos as the consignment arrives in
Spain the affiliate center will contact you.

I will fax to you all the documents which empowers you
to stand and claim the consignment as the beneficiary.

I will like to know what you do and your marital
status

Yours in service

Charles Nwachukwu

Nice to know he has a social life...

Spain it is then...

My fax machine is ready and waiting - let see I think he'll email them as attachments.

What job do I do...Should I send back mmmm and would a bloke like that above be married. Too many questions...Suppose I'd better start lying again.

March 10th 15:30

Charles,

Thank you for the information. Madrid it is then - do you have an idea when approximately I should arrange travel plans for Spain ?

My profession is an Engineering Contractor.

My marital status is married with two children.

Regards
Steve

If he wants to be personal lets see how far we can get him.

March 10th 16:00

Attn:Steve Thompson
From:Charles Nwachukwu

This is to confirm the receipt of your mail in reply
to my mail of this morning.

I am right now working on the documents with your
info, as soon as I am through with that then the
agreement will be drafted with company after which
Madam will pay for the airliftment charges.All these
could be done within today and tomorrow,If the money
is paid tomorrow the consignment will leave later
tomorrow or on Wednesday.

Be sure that between Wednesday and Friday we should be
done with everything, so get ready to travel from
Wednesday just in case they contact you.

I have three kids one girl and two boys.

My regards to your family.

Charles

March 10th 4:12

Charles,
Thank you again for the information regarding transportation details.

One point of clarification - Who or what is Madam ? Is this a company or a person ?

As far as travel dates - I'll try and clear my calender for the week or so to enable travel at the earliest opportunity.

Nice to hear about your family - I was telling my daughters Norah(8) & Kate (7) about Nigeria as they are doing a project about Africa at school at the moment and they would love to see a picture of your children - what ages are they ?

Best wishes to your family.
Regards
Steve

Madam is surely spelt Madame ?

Kids - puh who'd have them but now I've got two !! Norah is from the Norah Jones CD on my desk at the moment (which by they way is a worthy buy from www.cd-wow.com - £8.99!!) and Kate is from the first female artist I came across in my LP collection Kate Bush.

What do you think is the chances of getting some photos ?

Monday March 10th 18:54

Attn:Steve Thompson
From: Charles Nwachukwu

I called your number 44 1622 654 810 about 40 munites
ago and some one {a male voice}picked the phone and
told me that it was a wrong number when demanded to
speak with Steve Thompson.Is the number correct or
something?

When you want to call an elderlly woman without using
her name you call her Madam, when I use madam I am
referring to Mrs. Abacha.

My first son Nnaemeka is 9 my daughter Sandra 7 and
Joseph 3

I will send you their pic. tomorrow.
You can call me on 234 1 775 4171 since you can't get
through with the other number.{234 803 3351 231}

Pls. confirm your telephone number.

My best for your family.

Charles

As they say - bugger this is the first one to actually call. Have to think of a way out of this..

I'll give him a call tommorow. I think the 234 1 number is actually a fixed line rather than a mobile.

Monday 10th March 19:43

Charles,

This explains why I've had some strange phone calls this evening. Further up the street our telephone box for the area was damaged when a truck ran into it and British Telecom have been replacing it over the last day or so - my phone was working fine this morning before I left for work but it now seems that some of the telephone lines are not exactly where they are. I've had people calling this evening looking for a Neil Murray. British Telecom have advised us all that its going to take a couple of days to get things straight with everyones telephone lines back to where they should be. It looks like my fax line is working occasionally so they are obviously still working on it. The telephone numbers are correct its just that they're not going to the correct location. My neighbours are also in the same predicament.

Its a good job I've got broadband internet at home or I wouldn't get my emails.

The Madam thing was confusing me as in France it would be Madame (note the e).

Norah (my daughter) is wondering how you pronounce your first sons name.

I will give you a call tommorow from the office.

Best Regards and I'll talk to you tommorow.
Steve

What do you think - is this plausable enough ?

Tuesday March 11th 00:40:57 -0800 PST

Attn:Steve
From: Charles

Good Morning Mr. Steve,

Could you pls. confirm if the fax number you gave me
is working correctly so that I won't send the
documents to the wrong person{s}

Do you have another tel. where I can call you, I guess
it difficult for you to call me.

Waiting your response.

Charles

He's sounding a bit vague now isn't he ?

Tuesday March 11th 12:30

Charles,

Thank you for your email.

I'm in the office at the moment but I called my numbers this morning and the fax machine was the only one to answer so I would suggest that it is indeed working.

I'm in a serious of meetings early this afternoon but I will give you a call this afternoon when I'm finished (probably about 4:30 UK time)

Best Regards
Steve

Tuesday March 11th 15:30

Well I gave him a call on the first number he gave me - 234 1 775 4171 - twice ! The line was actually pretty good from my end but seemingly terrible from his - he kept repeating "Oh my goodness" or "Goodness me". There is me - sitting in my study shouting down the phone with the kettle on in the background and him having a hard job hearing the conversation. I shout at him I'll call him back on the other number. He answers the mobile number (234 803 3351 231) first time and the line is actually very good for a Nigerian call.

Summary of the 15 minute phone call is :

He should be faxing me "if my fax machine is working" within three hours the documents if all goes well from his end. He obviously has no idea about international shipments - he's convinced that once the paperwork is in place he'll be releasing the documents to the shipping company. Once Madam has paid the local duties payable on the shipment the shipping company will then transport the goods overnight to Madrid. This is likely to happen overnight on Wednesday night so the goods would be in Spain first thing Thursday morning.

At this point the clearance company will call me to have the package picked up but he would like me to be in Madrid by Thursday so the transaction is completed swiftly. I've told him I can't leave until sometime Thursday morning and given the travel times etc I would not be in Madrid until early Thursday evening so would be available to complete the transaction on Friday morning first thing.

One minute he's debating about coming to Spain but only if he can clear his case that he's working on in the courts on Thursday. The next minute he's saying he would probably come to London since he hasn't got a visa for Spain !!

That concluded the transaction details - we then got down to the personal stuff - his sons name is pronounced Nona Emeka.

He then advises that if he comes to the UK he would like some assistance from me to get his kids into school here. I discuss the pros and cons of this - knowing nothing about schools (no kids you see). He's complaining that the local college staff haven't been paid since December and are currently out on strike.

Wednesday 12th March 00:14:58 -0800 (PST)

Attn: Steve Thompson
From: Charles Nwachukwu

Dear Sir,

Thank you for the phone call of yesterday.

The documents where ready yesterday but the agreement
was not signed due to the absense of the one of the
company's director. But hopefully this morning it will
be signed cos' the man came back late yesterday.

When you get the power of attorney and and agreement i
will fax to you, you will have to sign your part and
fax back to me before the consignment leaves.

Is your phone line ok now?

My best for your kids

Charles

Theres that use of cos again - he's even got the apostrophe in the wrong place..

Sounds like a job for tommorow / tonight

Oh dear, looks like I'm going to have to tell him my phone is still out of order - either that or set up a dummy number in the interim and tell him to call that instead.

Wednesday 12th March 11:24 - 11:39

Our contractual agreement.. (Click on the image to open 54Kb)

Our contractual agreement.. (Click on the image to open 56Kb)

The "official" certificate of deposit (Click on the image to open 213Kb)

The "official" certificate of ownership (Click on the image to open 73Kb)

My power of attorney (kwality document this one) Click on the image to open 65Kb)

Well just before lunch time my fax machine kicked into life. 3 attempts at connection then five seperate one page faxes.

Not very professional is it to scribble on the first page who the fax is for - no cover page. tut tut.

As you'll see there is an address doubt if its for real.

You'll also read the small print in Section 1 point 4 about points 2 & 3 - there is no point 3.

Like the piece about the $60,250 on item 6 or the 25% breach of contract.

Wednesday 12th March 05:28:44 -0800 (PST) (which is about 12:30)

Attn: Steve Thompson
From: Charles Nwachukwu

Dear Sir,

I have this afternoon send to your fax line 44 1 xxx
xxx xxx five {5} pages of documents to you,pls. call
me on my phone to confirm.

You will have to sign and fax back to me the power of
attorney and the second page of the agreement to
enable us conclude with payment of the airliftment
charges so that the consignment will leave.

Awaiting your response.

Charles

Wednesday March 12th 18:30

Charles,

5 pages faxes received clear.

I have a couple of questions relating to the contractual agreement

1. Surely the principal in this contract is Mrs MUNIRAT ABACHA as point 2 has me assigning myself with rights and mandate - Surely this is incorrect Mrs Munirat Abacha should assign me.
2. Point 4 relates to point 2 & 3 but I cannot locate point 3 ? Is this an omission or an error ?

3. Point 4 relates to a period of time - there is no definition of this period in the contract.

4. Point 6 relates to monies payable. Who is liable to pay these - Mrs Munirat Abacha or myself.

5. Point 8 relates to the Principal again which doesn't make logical sense having advice coming from me to me.

Once these points have been cleared up I will be able to sign the contract and return.

I trust that your keeping Mrs Abacha advised of our progress.

On another note - British Telecom had advised that the damage is much worse that they initially thought - they're currently diverting a seperate range of numbers temporarily from another telephone exchange to provide service to the residents who have been impacted. This is supposed to be happening tonight at some stage - they'll then advise the telephone numbers we've been assigned. Hopefully by the time you get in the office tommorow morning I'll have the number and will be able to reach you.

My daughter Nora is telling her friends how to pronounce Nnaemeka's name (lets hope I got it right !)

Best Regards to you and your family.
Steve Thompson

Wednesday 12th March 21:05

Attn: Steve Thompson
From: Charles Nwachukwu

Dear Sir,

Thanks for your email message confirming the receipt
of the documents I sent to you.

I have noticed the error in the making of the
agreement which is in the first paragraph or lines.

The principal is Mrs. Abacha and not you, I beleive
the typist of the company made the mistake. After
drafting the agreement yesterday i left them to do the
typing due to my other engagment.

If you read point 1. and 2. you will understand that
the pricipal {Mrs. Abacha}assigns the contractor in
point 1. to airlift the consignment to Spain and in
point 2. the principal also assigns and accord you Mr.
Steve the right to represent and collect on her behalf
the consignment.

Point 6. states that the airliftment charges which is
$60.250.00 will be paid during the time or after
making this agreement.The charges will be paid by
Madam as soon as we coclude with this whole process.

You will have to understand that point 8. which says
that the principal {Mrs.Abacha} should advice you
being the recepient/beneficiary of the security charge
payable at the point of collection.

Please do not sign the agreement, I will go to the
company tomorrow morning to make corrections on the
errors but you should sign and fax back the power of
attorney. After making the correction on the agreement
I will fax it to you so you can sign and fax back to
me after which the payment will be made and receipt
sent to you.

Yes I an keeping Madam informed of our progress though
she traveled to see her mum in her village and may be
back on tomorrow.

I hope they reassign you with a new number so we can
talk effectively.

{Nnaemeka} means Father has done well, though Nna
means father while Emeka means done well the Nna is
referred to as God the Father. the full name is
Chukwunnaemeka meaning God the Father has done well.

Wishing you and your family well.

Charles

Thursday March 13th 16:00

Charles,

I have signed the power of attorney but have been unable to fax it to you as your fax machine is not answering - I've tried several times today in between my meetings without success.

Will a scanned and emailed version be suitable as I can get it scanned at work as an attachment ?

Regards
Steve

Thu, 13 Mar 2003 07:19:05 -0800 (PST)

Attn: Steve Thompson
From; Charles Nwachukwu

I have gone and corrected the errors but the chairman
of the company was not there to sign his part.

I will be going back there by 4pm my time and as soon
as i get back with the correct agreement then i will
fax it to you.

Have you been assigned a new phone number?

Please call me.

Charles

Thu, 13 Mar 2003 08:36:15 -0800 (PST)

Attn: Steve Thompson
From: Charles Nwachukwu

It could be I was using the fax as at the time you
tried to send the fax. You should try again but if it
fails then you can scan and email it to me.

Charles

Friday 14th March 2003 08:30

Charles,

I tried again several times without success - I've therefor scanned the image and attached

BT are still playing with our telephone lines (they've now said that they've got no idea when the lines will be back to normal) They have advised that we should make no calls on any of the lines that we have just in case its not the correct line and someone else gets the bills for our calls which I guess is fair enough. They have however given us a temporary telephone number from another exchange which we can seemingly be reached on 44 (0) xxxxxxxxxx until our proper line is re-instated. I'll advise you when that is.

As far as travel plans given the delays at your end - please advise the likely date I should schedule to travel to Madrid. Obviously the earlier I know the better as the cheaper the airfare is.

I received a two page fax from you late lastnight of which the front page was garbled - can you resend - I take it that this is the contract agreement rectified

Best regards to you and your family.
Steve

Oh hell - I'm lying again I've given him a dummy telephone number in London of which I answer (well my answering machine does) Thanks S.

I did receive a fax and the first page was indeed garbled. But the fax came in at about 21:30 last night - not very sociable hours for a solicitor is it ? Would you not worry about the time that these are sent ?

Saturday March 15th 2003

Attn: Steve Thomsom
From: Charles Nwachukwu

Dear Sir,

I did try to send the agreements papers to you the
night i called the fax line and some one picked up the
phone,The two pages showed ok on my machine, In any
case i will try to re send them to you.

Pls. when you get them try as soos as possible to sign
and fax back so we can make the payment before the
consignment leaves.

Can i call you on the new number allocated to you?

The only thing that's keeping your trip to Spain is
the documents that you have to sign and fax back, in
all, I beleive that by the middle of next week we
should be done with the whole process.

Will call you on the new number.

Have a nice week end with your family.

Charles

He did call me on the new number and left an obscure message about having sent the fax and to return it as the earliest opportunity.

Monday March 17th 2003

Charles,

Thank you for the information and apologies for not being contact over the weekend - we've been away all weekend and only just returned.

Your fax (contract) was received but as I mentioned - the first page was garbled - please resend just the first page.

Regards
Steve

Tuesday March 18th 2003 00:57:56 -0800 (PST)

Mr. Steve

Yesterday I resent the first page of the agreement
paper to your fax line,did you get it ok?

I also tried saveral times to call you on the new
number you gave me but to no avail.

please sign and fix your passport sized photograph in
the first page of the agreement and fax back to me so
we can make the payment for the airliftment of the
consignment.

Regards

Charles

Tuesday March 18th 2003 17:15

Charles,

Page received loud and clear.

The new number is working fine - I've had some messages on the answering machine and I've just checked it. I have been out recently though but you should get the machine if I'm out.

I tried faxing you back the contract (which is worded correctly now) but it either never answers or it never connects. Probably a BT problem. My passport photo was causing problems with page one with the rollers in the fax machine and when I photocopied it the text was a little blurry.

I've scanned in (with some assistance) the two pages of the contract and attached here. Hope these will suffice, if not I will continue to try and fax to you.

If you have any problems let me know.

Best Wishes to you and your family.

Regards
Steve

Tuesday March 18th

Dear Sir,

I have received the signed documents/passport, but i
can not have a good copy if i print it out from
computer as i have tried.

Pls. do fax the two pages of agreement to me. when you
dial my fax line +234 1 759 6435, it welcomes you by
saying, THIS IS THE MAIL BOX 759 6435 PLS. SEND YOUR
FAX AFTER YOU HERE THE FAX TONE then you can press
your start button.

try to call you this night.

My best for your family.

Charles

Wednesday March 19th 07:00

Charles,

I've called six times to Nigeria and your fax service answered four times and each time it says that "the fax service on 759 6435 is busy at the moment please try later". Can you fix this so I can send you the fax.

Regards

Steve

Wed, 19 Mar 2003 00:20:14 -0800 (PST)

Dear Sir,

Mr. Steve Thompson,

I have managed to print from my computer and the pages
are clear enough.

I will submit it to the company and make the payment
today, if the consignment will leave today for Spain I
will inform you later today.

I hope that you are ready to travel to Spain as soon
as the affiliate center of the company informs you of
the arrival of the consignment from now till Friday?

My regards

Charles Nwachukwu

Wednesday March 19th 19:39

Charles,

Good news about the attachments. Did you get your fax service repaired.

Do you know the name of the affiliate centre who will be contacting me.

I'm ready to travel with probably a days notice so there should be no problems from my end.

Best Regards to you and your family.

Steve.

P.S. My daughter was asking if you had sent a photo of your children yet - I don't suppose I could impose on you to send a photo to please her could you. It would help with her project at school.

Thu, 20 Mar 2003 02:32:14 -0800 (PST)

Dear Sir,

Mr. Steve

The consignment left yesterday for Spain and the
affiliate center will contact you when they get the
consignment.

The name of the affiliate center is GLOBAL NETWORK
SECURITY.

As I am writing you this mail the pictures are here
with me in my office, but my scanner has been bad
thats why i could not send the pictures. pls. tel your
daughter that as soon as I fix my scanner i will send
the pictures via attachment.

Do inform me when you get contact from Spain.

My regards

Charles

Thu, 20 Mar 2003 08:58:05 -0800 (PST)

Dear Sir,

Mr. Steve what is the situation,did you get any
information from Spain.

I have tried to call your new number but the phones
are not connecting.

pls. call me.

Charles

I've checked the voice mail on the number I provided to him and theres nothing there.

He must mean the lines from Nigeria.

I'll call him tommorow morning.

Thursday 20th March 17:45

Charles,

I've just arrived home and I've got no emails nor phone messages from anyone.

Given the time in Spain at the moment I doubt if I'll hear from them today.

As soon as I hear something I'll let you know - I take it that you're still advising Mrs Abacha of our progress.

Regards
Steve

Thursday 20th March 20:40

DEAR MR. THOMPSON,

GOOD EVENING AND HOW IS YOUR FAMILY?

I WANT TO THANK YOU FOR YOUR EFFORT SO FAR WITH MR.
CHARLES IN TRYING TO HELP ME SECURE THIS FUNDS.
MR. CHARLES TOLD ME YESTERDAY THAT THE CONSIGNMENT
LEFT AFTER I MADE THE PAYMENT. I WANT TO ENQUIRE IF
YOU HAVE ARRIVED IN SPAIN FOR THE COLLECTION AS I HAVE
TRIED TO CALL MR. CHARLES ON PHONE WITHOUT SUCCESS, I
DON'T KNOW WHAT IS WRONG WITH HIS PHONE.

DID YOU TWO TALK ON PHONE TODAY?
I AM EXPECTING YOUR MAIL BACK.

MY GOOD WISHES TO YOUR FAMILY

MRS. MUNIRAT M. ABACHA

Thursday 20th March 22:20

Mrs Abacha,

My family are doing well - we've just sent our daughters off to their bed for the evening.

I had problems reaching Charles's fax machine on Wednesday but ended up emailing a scanned version which seemed more reliable.

To answer your questions - I'm not yet in Spain - we're currently waiting on the clearance company to contact me (I don't know wether that will be via email or telephone). I believe that Charles would have provided both contact points to them.

I plan to call him tommorow at some stage in between my meetings to see if he has an idea when it will likely clear customs etc - perhaps the clearance company can advise then when they finally make contact. I'm guessing that they will not make contact until the shipment has landed in Madrid.

I've checked but I can get fairly regular flights to Madrid for the collection from Gatwick so getting there should be no problem.

It seems that everything will be falling into place with the exception of what we do regarding the handover of the shipment to you once I've collected it on your behalf. How do you want to handle this ? Please advise.

Very best regards to your family

Steve Thomson.