Police fraud unit arrests 3 suspects

The Police Special Fraud Unit (SFU) said it arrested two suspected fraudusters, alleged to have defrauded an American citizen of 182,450 dollars (about N27 million).

Mr. Tunde Ogunsakin, the Commissioner of Police incharge of the SFU, disclosed this to newsmen in Lagos while parading the suspects.

He said that the offence was committed between 13 February and 14 March, this year in a transaction done through a bank account in China.

According to the commissioner, the suspects used a corporate name of Luck Investment Ltd., alleged to be located in London, to carry out their criminal activities.

He said that all the places and banks mentioned in the U.K., U.S. and China were visited during investigation.

Another suspect, said to have a pending case in court, based on a similar offence, was also paraded for allegedly defrauding members of the public of millions of naira, under the guise of helping them to get American visas.

Ogunsakin told newsmen that the suspect, who paraded himself as “Senior System Analyst, Visa Section’’ at the American Embassy, went around in vehicles with diplomatic number plates.

He said that the suspect, who operated from Lagos and Enugu, targeted young working class men and women, who were proposing to travel to the U.S. for studies and holidays.

The police commissioner alleged that before the latest arrest of the suspect, he had defrauded some members of the public to the tune of six million naira after promising to procure visas and secure admission for them in American universities.

“The suspect hacked into foreign numbers +19406031528 and +19406049866, which he claimed, belonged to Atlanta University and used them to contact the victims on two occasions so as to make his activities look genuine.

“All his victims confirmed that he goes around with a forged complimentary card of the Embassy of the United States of America,’’ he said.

The commissioner warned members of the public to be alert and urged intending travellers to apply and procure visas from the appropriate embassies. (NAN)