13th July, 2010
The Post Master-General of the Federation, Mallam Ibrahim Mori Baba has announced the interception of fake foreign cheques worth $17,279,047.01 (N.25 billion) by his men.
Mallam Baba told newsmen in Lagos that the scam was discovered by NIPOST workers between October 2009 and March 2010.
He made the revelation while speaking at the 5th Bulkpost Annual Customers’ Forum/Lecture in Lagos.
He disclosed that the foreign scam letters were intended to defraud unsuspecting foreign investors and in the process put the country’s image to disrepute.
Baba explained that the theme of the forum: “The Nigerian Capital Market Mail: The Crime, The Criminal And the Law, clearly underscores the seriousness the management of NIPOST attaches to the capital market.”
“Mail items being generated from this capital market are in large volume and as such we feel embarrassed whenever we received complaints of pilfering, non delivery and destruction of these items.â€
According to him, the interception was made possible through collaborative efforts of agencies such as the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) of Britain, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA and the Nigerian Customs Services (NCS).
He explained that the criminals were handed over to the law enforcement agencies to serve as a deterrent to others.
He said the involvement of the EFCC in NIPOST’s activities underscores the seriousness the organisation attached to delivering high quality service, as well as the pain it suffers each time a customer is defrauded in connivance with members of staff.
Mr. Adegbite Olaolu, the Head, Advance Fee Fraud section of the EFCC revealed that the criminals sent the financial instruments in bulk to Spain, Netherlands, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to defraud their victims.
He said criminals have now become very restive as they personally take the mails across the borders where they post them to avoid detection.
The Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG), Zone II, Onikan, Lagos, Mr. Azubuko Udah, relieved an experience of how 43,000 units of his Union Bank shares were sold by his own stock broker without his consent when he was a Commissioner of Police at INTERPOL and that it took the grace of God for him to recover the shares.
—Ekene Obidike