EFCC arrests fake US army colonel, accomplice for fraud
- Operatives of the EFCC have arrested a fake US army colonel and a lawyer, for obtaining the sum of $5,000 from a victim, while still demanding for a $10,000 balance
- The suspects had pretended to be operatives of the anti-graft commission, and demanded for the money from the victim to ‘kill’ a non-existent case
- Luck ran out on them when a retired DSS official informed the victim that the EFCC did not demand for money to do its job; and both men would be charged to court soon
One Richardson Obasogie, a self-professed colonel of the United State army and a Barr Mike Nkwocha, have been arrested by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), for fraudulent activities.
The suspects reportedly impersonated operatives of the anti-graft agency to obtain the sum of $10,000 from their victim; and the development was made public on the commission’s Facebook page.
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Legit.ng gathers that the EFCC was alerted by the victim, who alleged that he had received a call from a certain Ladan Mustapha, who claimed to be an operative of the commission.
He stated that the victim was a subject of investigation as there was a petition against him which bordered on illegal acquisition of assets in different parts of the country.
A meeting was subsequently arranged in partnership with Nkwocha, where the victim was told to pay the sum of $200,000 for the case to be ‘killed’.
The figure was eventually negotiated down to $15,000, and the victim then proceeded to pay in an initial sum of $5,000 to Nkwocha who then began to mount pressure for the remaining $10,000 to be paid.
However, the victim began suspecting foul play after being informed by a retired DSS personnel that the EFCC does not demand for money to carry out its duties.
Subsequently, the victim petitioned the anti-graft agency which then swung in and arrested Nkwocha who confessed that Obasogie was the mastermind of the plan.
The EFCC operatives then conducted a search in the houses of the suspects, after obtaining a search warrant, where they discovered a computer system and letter-heads of the US government, Department of State Services (DSS), Nigeria Intelligence Agency (NIA), Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and Bayelsa state government.
The suspects will be charged to court upon conclusion of investigations, and operatives are currently searching for Ladan Mustapha who is at large at the moment.
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Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that operatives of the EFCC arrested some military officers for diverting the benefits of soldiers that died on the warfront fighting Islamist insurgents Boko Haram in the north east.
The commission arrested two military officers and four others for reportedly opening fake accounts to divert N339million benefits of next-of-kin of deceased military officers and men within two months.
The officers arrested were from the Military Pension Board including a Wing Commander and Lt. Commander.
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Source: Legit.ng
