Nigerian authorities apprehended Ntuen Promise Ekenmini when he attempted to pick up documents with a fake driver’s licence at an international courier office.
It is expected he will be charged with forgery and identity theft.
Mr Ekenmini contacted a property manager at a Mandurah estate office in December last year.
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READ NOWHe pretended to be the owner of a home managed by the agency and requested documents related to the rental property, which were sent.
Mr Ekenmini used an email address in the name of the real owner ” who resides in Johannesburg ” and requested all future documentation be sent to that address.
He also requested all phone contact be made via a new phone number.
By January, Mr Ekenmini requested the agency to sell the property and organised a sales document with fake signatures.
This included copies of fake passports of the real homeowners and a faked document supposedly from the Australian High Commission in Pretoria confirming their identity.
The attempted fraud raised the suspicions of the real estate agent Kent Murphy, who reported the fraud to authorities.
What followed was an eighth month investigation by the Major Fraud Squad of the WA Police, with assistance from the AFP, authorities in South Africa and Nigeria and Dolphin Settlements in Mandurah.
The agency continued to exchange documents with the alleged offender with the help of the Major Fraud Squad detectives to identify Mr Ekenmini.
At one stage, instructions were given to deposit proceeds from the pretend sale, $785,000, into a bank account in South East Asia.
The AFP liaised with South African and Nigerian police, who monitored the controlled delivery of the pretend settlement documents first in Johannesburg, then Nigeria.
Consumer Protection welcomed the arrest in Nigeria, but have put out a reminder to real estate and settlement agents to remain vigilant.