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Minn. Man Among 2 Arrested In Las Vegas 'Black Money' Scam

LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Las Vegas police say they arrested two men accused of running a scam involving a promise to mysteriously turn blackened cash into currency.

Records showed 26-year-old Fidelis Oselu Okokpujie and 23-year-old Harrison Doe were being held Thursday at the Clark County jail pending court appearances on on conspiracy and felony fraud-related charges.

Police say Okokpujie is from Nigeria and lives in Phoenix, and Doe is from Liberia and lives in Coon Rapids, Minn.

Police say an undercover detective met the men with a promise to pay $200,000 for windfall cash that had been coated with black ink so it could be smuggled out of Africa.

The scam usually involves having victims pay thousands of dollars for a mystery chemical to clean the black coating.

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