Fraudsters impersonate Tinubu, Saraki, dupe job seekers of N20m


The suspects
Adelani Adepegba and Afeez Hanafi
Some suspected fraudsters, who specialised in cloning phone numbers of ministers, politicians and aides to President Muhammadu Buhari, have been apprehended by the police.
The suspects were identified as Chief Ovie Ogogo, 47; Abdulazeez Eragbe, 40; Babatunde Oshamoto, 49; and 25-year-old Samuel Idah.
Fourteen phones with SIM cards allegedly registered with names of top government officials were reportedly recovered from the suspects.
Among those impersonated by the syndicate, according to the police, are Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari; the National Security Adviser, Babagana Moguno; the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibeh Kachukwu; and the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun.
They were also accused of impersonating a national leader of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu; the Senate President, Bukola Saraki; the Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi; and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal.
PUNCH Metro learnt that operatives of the Inspector-General of Police, led by ACP Abba Kyari, trailed the syndicate to a hotel in Kaduna State on Tuesday, after receiving complaints from some victims.
A police source disclosed to one of our correspondents that the suspects impersonated Moguno to collect N13m from a Ghanaian, who wanted to get an oil block in Nigeria, and posed as Lawal to swindle one Nnamdi Udo of N4m under false pretences of helping him to get a federal appointment.
“They also posed as the Chief of Staff to the President and collected N2.5m from one Mr. Bishop, who was looking for a contract, and another N700,000 from one Shehu Dan Yahaya, who was seeking a federal appointment.
“Ogogo, a native of Omoku Rivers State, impersonated prominent citizens from the South-South and South-East; Eragbe impersonated prominent persons from the North; Oshamoto posed as prominent citizens from the South-West and North-Central; while Idah supplied them SIM cards registered with the names of the top government officials.
“They were arrested in a luxury hotel in Kaduna and had confessed to impersonating several prominent citizens,” the source added.
Another senior police officer disclosed to PUNCH Metro that the suspects confessed to have realised N20m in six months from their criminal activities.
He added that the mastermind of the gang was based in the United Kingdom.
He said, “Ogogo is their leader; but they mentioned one Prince Maurice, based in the UK, as their gang leader.  Fourteen different phones, several registered SIM cards, and a diary containing phone numbers of several top government officials, were recovered from the suspects.
“Ogogo further confessed that they had made over N20m from their criminal activities within the last six months.”
Parading the suspects on Thursday in Abuja, the police spokesman, Jimoh Moshood, said all the suspects confessed to the crime.
He said, “On March 23, 2017, the Intelligence Response Team arrested these notorious criminals who posed as top government functionaries.
 “The four-man syndicate, led by one ‘High Chief’ Ovie Ogogo, was arrested in a hotel in Kaduna State. All the suspects confessed to the crime and admitted to have impersonated several prominent citizens and made over N20m within the last six months.”
The police said other suspects would soon be arrested, while those in custody would be arraigned in court at the conclusion of investigation.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A four man robbery gang planning to rob a bank customer caught by police ...photo

Image
Gallant men of the Imo State Police Command this morning foiled an attempt by a four man armed robbery gang to rob a bank customer at Fidelity Bank, Owerri. According to Kennedy Onwunali, who posted the photos: "The gang which came on a Toyota Camry drove away after they were engaged in gun battle  by the police men on duty and police teams from allover the city led by the area commander Acp Francis Bissiong, the DPO Owerri urban and command federal anti robbery squad in the state. The team immediately raided black sports in the city were men of the under world were picked out and taken to the state headquarters for investigation" Posted by  Admin   at  07:32  
Read more

Nigerian man driving a Lamborghini arrested in Singapore for reckless driving...photo

Image
This 45-year-old Nigerian Lamborghini driver was arrested for reckless and dangerous driving in Singapore on Tuesday, October 11th. The incident which occurred on October 1, was recorded by an in-car camera and the footage went viral after it was uploaded online last week. There was a narrow gap - barely a car's width - between the two vehicles travelling on the expressway. Yet the blue Lamborghini blatantly squeezed through, almost causing an accident, while cutting across the lane before speeding off into the distance. The Nigerian Lambo driver has been identified as Paul Gabriel Amos from Agulu, Anambra State  who lives in Singapore. All Singapore Stuff also shared newspaper reports of Paul Gabriel Amos being involved in scams, one of which implicated him in a case where $27 million dollars were scammed from Citibank back in 2009. When Paul Gabriel Amos tried to visit the United States, he was arrested by the FBI and brought to court in which he denied all al
Read more

Jammeh Shuts Down 4th Radio Station As Buhari Meet ECOWAS Leaders In Abuja

Image
Gambia's President, Yahya Jammeh has shut down Paradise FM, the fourth radio station to be shut since last week, one of its presenters said on Monday. This is coming as West African leaders were due to meet in Abuja today to discuss the crisis.  Paradise FM was closed on orders allegedly given by the Communication and Information Ministry, presenter Andrew Gibba said.   The closure came hours after Paradise FM had interviewed a spokesman of a coalition backing president-elect Adama Barrow, to whom President Yahya Jammeh has refused to cede power after losing the Dec. 1 election. The closure followed those of Teranga FM, Hilltop FM and Afri Radio. The authorities have not given an explanation for any of the closures.
Read more