Two Canadian women have been arrested after attempting to extort a Nigerian billionaire. Jyoti and Kiran Matharoo, originally from Toronto, have been held in custody in Nigeria over allegedly blackmailing oil tycoon Femi Otedola. Toronto Star reports that the married Otedola was being threatened with his infidelity being exposed online if he did not pay them.
$1.8 billion net worth
With a net worth of $1.8 billion, Forbes lists 54-year-old Otedola as the third richest person in Nigeria for 2016 and as the 16th richest person in Africa in 2015.
Court documents issued on December 20th detail the accusations against Jyoti and Kiran.
They are said to have blackmailed several wealthy men by threatening to release footage of the sisters and the men having sex with each other. The Matharoo sisters have reportedly admitted to sleeping with almost 100 men and are alleged to be escorts.
They are also facing accusations of being involved in running now-defunct website NaijaGistLive, as well as using several social media accounts to cyberbully 274 people that are "mostly based in various regions of Africa".
Kristine Racicot of Global Affairs Canada confirmed that the sisters are being provided with consular assistance, declining to release further details.
Life of luxury
The Matharoo sisters appeared in a Lagos court on Friday December 23, where they signed statements confessing to being responsible for NaijaGistLive.
They also signed an agreement to leave Nigeria after the trial has ended. The pair will remain in custody until their next court date, which is scheduled to take place in January 2017.
Jyoti and Kiran are well-known for their flashy social media posts which depict them living a life of luxury. Displays of cash, expensive watches and exotic locations are among a few pictures that can be found on their Instagram accounts, racking up almost 50,000 followers altogether on the social media site.
Their extravagant lifestyle has often been compared to that of the Kardashian family, due to their wide-reaching social media presence.
