Recovering Unjust Enrichment in an Online Dating Scam
The plaintiff was defrauded by an online "lover" and lured into transferring over US$850,000 under the guise of gifts, which he ultimately discovered were completely fabricated.
One of the funds, US$41,550, was transferred to the account of the third defendant (a company registered in the Seychelles) on March 14, 2018, fraudulently claiming it was payment for goods from a client, Malaika Investment Ltd.
However, due to the third defendant's lack of business evidence and the mismatch between the source and purpose of the funds, the court ultimately ruled that the victim could recover all funds under the "unjust enrichment" principle. Even though some of the defendants were not the primary perpetrators of the fraud, they were still subject to civil liability.