LONDON COURT JAILS 5 NIGERIANS FOR £610,000 FRAUD

An Inner London Crown Court has sentenced five Nigerians to various jail terms over the theft of £610,000 from business bank accounts.

According to reports, Victor Oke, 39, of Galleons Drive, Barking, used stolen data provided by Desmond Uyiosa Abifade, 25, of Henniker Road, Stratford, to falsely impersonate company directors via telephone banking.

Once Oke gained access, he diverted funds to ‘mule’ beneficiary accounts monitored by Moses Kuye, 28, of Connaught Road, Silvertown.

Melinda Mensah-Oke, 37, also of Galleons Drive, impersonated company directors when a female voice was necessary, while Arinola Kuye, 27, also of Connaught Road, acted as the group’s money launderer.

They were caught after being spotted by fraud investigators at HSBC, who passed the case to the dedicated card and payment crime unit (DCPCU) to investigate.

The DCPCU is sponsored by the banking industry and made up of officers from the City of London Police and the Metropolitan Police Service, bank investigators and support staff from UK Finance.

Police were able to analyse when and where the calls were made to identify the phones used and from there, the perpetrators.

All five were charged with conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation, which they pleaded not guilty to.

On Wednesday, Oke was sentenced to four years in prison, while Moses Kuye was jailed for three years and three months.

Mensah-Oke received a fourteen month suspended sentence and Abifade a two year suspended sentence.

Arinola Kuye was given a 12-month community order and instructed to complete 50 hours of unpaid work.

DC Dave Cass, who investigated the case for the DCPCU said: “This was a concerted effort to commit fraud against two companies and profit from crime.

“The police take fraud very seriously and these sentences should send a message to fraudsters that you will be caught and punished.”

All losses were refunded to the genuine business account holders.

NIGERIAN KAZEEM AND SON CONVICTED OF $7M FRAUD IN U.S

Emmanuel Oluwatosin Kazeem

A Nigerian, Emmanuel Oluwatosin Kazeem, accused of obtaining more than 125,000 stolen taxpayer identities from across the United States has been convicted in federal court in Oregon.
He was found guilty on 19 counts of mail and wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud.

A jury in Medford returned the verdicts Friday against Emmanuel Oluwatosin Kazeem, 34, who lived most recently in Bowie, Maryland.

Prosecutors say Kazeem bought over 91,000 of the identities from a Vietnamese hacker who got into a database belonging to an Oregon company called CICS Employment Services. Most of the personal information belonged to people living in Oregon and Washington and were used to file fraudulent tax returns between 2012 and 2015.

Over 2,800 fraudulent returns were linked to Kazeem with attempted refunds in excess of $26 million and actual losses to the federal government of nearly $7 million.

IRS criminal investigators traced more than 2,000 wire transfers involving $2.1 million dollars in fraudulent tax refunds wired to Nigeria by Kazeem and his co-conspirators, prosecutors said. 

Michael Kazeem

Kazeem passed many of the identities to his co-conspirators located in the Atlanta, Georgia, area and Nigeria. He instructed them how to use the stolen personal information to get electronic filing PINs from the Internal Revenue Service in the taxpayers’ names to file tax returns. He taught them how to create fictitious W-2 wage documents and acquire and register prepaid debit cards in the taxpayers’ names to receive refunds, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors submitted evidence that Kazeem had invested more than $190,000 in cash into the recent purchase of a newly constructed home in Maryland, used $175,000 in cash to buy a townhouse in Maryland shortly before his arrest.

Evidence also found monthly credit card payments of $8300 over 4 years and plans to build a hotel in Lagos, Nigeria.

The verdict came at the end of a five-day trial before U.S. District Judge Ann L. Aiken. Kazeem is scheduled to be sentenced in Medford on Nov. 8. Kazeem’s son, Michael Kazeem, has pleaded guilty to an indictment and awaits sentencing.

Investigators from the IRS, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the FBI and Office of Inspector General were involved in the case.

Five Nigerians arrested for alleged cyber-crime in Bangladesh

Five Nigerians were arrested on Tuesday in Savar, Bangladesh, for alleged fraud and cyber-crime.

According to a report published by Bangla News 24, a news portal in Bangladesh, a team of Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) apprehended and detained the suspects after raiding their house at Alamnagar Sugandhya Housing at Hemayutpur area.

Following a tip-off, the PBI team led by additional superintendent of police, ARM Alif, conducted the raid in the house in the afternoon.

The police also seized four laptops, 11 mobile phones, 20 SIM cards, some pen-drives and cash.

“The detained Nigerian citizens have been residing in the rented flat for a year. They are members of a syndicate who snaffled a huge amount of money alluring people with fraud,” the police said.

EFCC Arrests ‘Pastor’ For N200m Alleged Fraud.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has picked up one ‘Pastor’ Jonathan for allegedly obtaining money by false pretence to the tune of N200m.
The Head of Media and Publicity of the EFCC, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, said in a statement on Friday that the suspect had earlier jumped bail but was rearrested by operatives of the commission in a sting operation on Thursday.
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Photos: EFCC Arraigns Kano Hospital Clerks Over N3.2m Fraud.

Find the EFCC press statement below..

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Wednesday, July 29, 2015 arraigned one Umar Yusuf and Ibrahim Ahmed Bebeji, both former clerks of National Orthopedic Hospital, Dala, Kano State before Justice Dije Aboki of the State High Court, Kano on a 3-count charge bordering on criminal breach of trust and theft. Yusuf and Bebeji, between January and September, 2013 allegedly conspired and fraudulently altered information on official revenue receipts in their custody for services rendered to individuals.

An audit report carried out by the Hospital Management revealed that, the sum of N3,331,167 (three million, three hundred and thirty one thousand, one hundred and sixty seven naira) was collected as revenue by the accused. But, the duo declared and paid the sum of N150,314 (one hundred and fifty thousand, three hundred and fourteen naira) to the hospital coffers while pocketing the sum of N3,180,853 (three million, one hundred and eighty thousand, eight hundred and fifty three naira).

One of the charges reads: “That you, Umar Yusuf And Ibrahim Ahmad Bebeji between January to September, 2013 in Kano within the judicial division of the High Court of Justice, Kano State, while being clerks of the National Orthopedic Hospital, Dala, Kano, committed theft of the sum of N3,180,853.00 (three million, one hundred and eighty thousand, eight hundred and fifty three naira only) which was received as part of the revenue accruable to the Hospital and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 286 and punishable under Section 289 of Penal Code.”

The accused persons pleaded not guilty when the charge was read to them. Counsel to the EFCC, Musa Isa, asked the court for a date for hearing sequel to the plea of the accused persons. However, the defence counsel urged the court to admit the accused persons to bail. Justice Aboki granted the accused bail with two sureties of not below Grade Level 12. The sureties must sign a bond of one million naira each. The accused are to be remanded in prison custody until their bail conditions are met. The case has been adjourned to October 8, 2015 for commencement of trial.

26 Year Old Female Banker Steals N24m From Customers.

A female staff of an old generation bank in Ondo State, southwest Nigeria, Alabi Joy Omotayo, 26, has been arrested by the police at Onikan division, Ikoyi, Lagos for allegedly withdrawing N24 million from the bank’s customers’ accounts.
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Incredible Lifestyle Of Nigerian Student Fraudsters ,How They Live Flamboyant Lifestyles ,And The Exotic Cars They Drive.

Before he met his waterloo some months ago, 30-year-old Hope Olusegun Aroke lived in the elite 1004 Housing Estate, Victoria Island, Lagos.

Aroke, an undergraduate in a Malaysian university, had the world at his beck and call, as he could afford just about anything that meant class.For him, provision was probably just another successful scam away. And the race to maintain the social status that fraud had allegedly earned him could never end.

In his garage was a fleet of posh cars and SUVs, all of Mercedes-Benz brand. Though a tenant, he successfully outshone the status of his co-residents.To many, the young man had done well for himself by a dint of hard work.In some sense, Aroke was working hard, but as a suspected serial scammer.His busy neighbours barely noticed his unusual schedule, but many were irked by his exceptional flamboyant lifestyle.

Most times, when neighbours were out to work, Aroke stayed indoor in company with other young men, who were later discovered to be his fraud cell suspects.These young men included his apprentices and internet scam partners.The operation that marred Aroke’s merry-making living would have shot up his net worth by several notches.

Going by the revelation of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, he had successfully carried out the scam operations worth N55m on unsuspecting members of the public. He, however, became unfortunate while trying to conceal the nature of the proceeds by converting it to foreign currency in partnership with Ibrahim Tafida, a Bureau de Change operator.

He was eventually nabbed by the team of the EFCC in Lagos.

Last year, 25-year-old Sunkanmi Odewale, a 200-level undergraduate of Mechanical Engineering, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ogun State, a suspected fraudster, breezed into an automart and bought a Toyota Venza for N4m.

Before, he was picked up in Ibadan, Oyo State, three months ago, he was alleged to be notorious for regularly swindling unsuspecting members of the public via the internet.

His N4m Toyota Venza was the latest of his collections of luxury toys allegedly acquired from the proceeds of cyber crimes.He, however, forfeited it and other valuables worth millions, which were seized during the arrest.

The EFCC said he was currently facing prosecution.

During some sting operations based on internet-prompted information, the EFCC recently arrested another five suspected fraudsters in Enugu State.

They are: 27-year-old Uche Nwakor; 30-year-old Oluchukwu Ejikeme; 28-year-old Ifeanyi Ejikeme; 30-year-old Nnamani Ikechukwu; and Ibe Kodili.

They were arrested at their expensive houses at No 26 and 42, Chimaobi Uba Street, GRA, EnuguThe team is said to be “serial scammers,” having defrauded several victims.

Items seized from them where they were perfecting how to get the next victim are: eight exotic cars, nine laptops, 21 mobile phones, internet routers, drivers’ licenses and international passports.

Two months ago, the game was over for notorious internet fraudster, Wale Olaide, who specialised in defrauding members of the public through bank credit alerts.Popularly called Wale Dollar in his clique, he had great tentacles as his business transversed the shores of Nigeria.

Although he had successfully executed bigger deals, which had earned him a comfortable life, he came crashing over a N5m deal involving two brothers Abdulhamid Abubakar, based in Nigeria and Hashim Abubakar based in Togo. They are both into BDC business.

Under the pretext that he wanted to do genuine business with them, he contacted the Togo-based operator, asking for his Nigerian bank account number, which he authorised his brother to give him. Olaide was supposed to pay in N5m to purchase the CFA Francs equivalent.

But when he got the account details, rather than send the money as agreed, he sent a false credit alert notifying the BDC operators that his account had credited at the Seme border branch and so he released the equivalent to him.

He was shocked to find out the next day that his bankers couldn’t trace such payments made into his account.

The EFCC said it took investigative initiative to arrest Olaide, who it described as “a member of the deadly syndicate involved in duping unsuspecting members of the public.”

It described fraudulent credit banking notification as a new trend in criminality by fraudsters and warned the public to be careful.

The EFCC Ag. Head, Media and Publicity, Wilson Uwujaren, told Saturday PUNCH that it was not in the character of fraudsters to buy lands or build houses.He said, “They seldom even buy houses or have permanent addresses because of the nature of their activities. They often spend money on exotic cars, throw parties and generally squander the money on things that are not fixed. All the people arrested for such crimes are usually made to face the law.”

Uwujaren said there were signs that could put one on the guard. “If for instance somebody you have never met in person begins to pester you about your personal banking details online, chances are that the person may be a potential scammer.

Source : Punch

Incredible Lifestyle Of Nigerian Student Fraudsters ,How They Live Flamboyant Lifestyles ,And The Exotic Cars They Drive.

Before he met his waterloo some months ago, 30-year-old Hope Olusegun Aroke lived in the elite 1004 Housing Estate, Victoria Island, Lagos.

Aroke, an undergraduate in a Malaysian university, had the world at his beck and call, as he could afford just about anything that meant class.For him, provision was probably just another successful scam away. And the race to maintain the social status that fraud had allegedly earned him could never end.

In his garage was a fleet of posh cars and SUVs, all of Mercedes-Benz brand. Though a tenant, he successfully outshone the status of his co-residents.To many, the young man had done well for himself by a dint of hard work.In some sense, Aroke was working hard, but as a suspected serial scammer.His busy neighbours barely noticed his unusual schedule, but many were irked by his exceptional flamboyant lifestyle.

Most times, when neighbours were out to work, Aroke stayed indoor in company with other young men, who were later discovered to be his fraud cell suspects.These young men included his apprentices and internet scam partners.The operation that marred Aroke’s merry-making living would have shot up his net worth by several notches.

Going by the revelation of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, he had successfully carried out the scam operations worth N55m on unsuspecting members of the public. He, however, became unfortunate while trying to conceal the nature of the proceeds by converting it to foreign currency in partnership with Ibrahim Tafida, a Bureau de Change operator.

He was eventually nabbed by the team of the EFCC in Lagos.

Last year, 25-year-old Sunkanmi Odewale, a 200-level undergraduate of Mechanical Engineering, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ogun State, a suspected fraudster, breezed into an automart and bought a Toyota Venza for N4m.

Before, he was picked up in Ibadan, Oyo State, three months ago, he was alleged to be notorious for regularly swindling unsuspecting members of the public via the internet.

His N4m Toyota Venza was the latest of his collections of luxury toys allegedly acquired from the proceeds of cyber crimes.He, however, forfeited it and other valuables worth millions, which were seized during the arrest.

The EFCC said he was currently facing prosecution.

During some sting operations based on internet-prompted information, the EFCC recently arrested another five suspected fraudsters in Enugu State.

They are: 27-year-old Uche Nwakor; 30-year-old Oluchukwu Ejikeme; 28-year-old Ifeanyi Ejikeme; 30-year-old Nnamani Ikechukwu; and Ibe Kodili.

They were arrested at their expensive houses at No 26 and 42, Chimaobi Uba Street, GRA, EnuguThe team is said to be “serial scammers,” having defrauded several victims.

Items seized from them where they were perfecting how to get the next victim are: eight exotic cars, nine laptops, 21 mobile phones, internet routers, drivers’ licenses and international passports.

Two months ago, the game was over for notorious internet fraudster, Wale Olaide, who specialised in defrauding members of the public through bank credit alerts.Popularly called Wale Dollar in his clique, he had great tentacles as his business transversed the shores of Nigeria.

Although he had successfully executed bigger deals, which had earned him a comfortable life, he came crashing over a N5m deal involving two brothers Abdulhamid Abubakar, based in Nigeria and Hashim Abubakar based in Togo. They are both into BDC business.

Under the pretext that he wanted to do genuine business with them, he contacted the Togo-based operator, asking for his Nigerian bank account number, which he authorised his brother to give him. Olaide was supposed to pay in N5m to purchase the CFA Francs equivalent.

But when he got the account details, rather than send the money as agreed, he sent a false credit alert notifying the BDC operators that his account had credited at the Seme border branch and so he released the equivalent to him.

He was shocked to find out the next day that his bankers couldn’t trace such payments made into his account.

The EFCC said it took investigative initiative to arrest Olaide, who it described as “a member of the deadly syndicate involved in duping unsuspecting members of the public.”

It described fraudulent credit banking notification as a new trend in criminality by fraudsters and warned the public to be careful.

The EFCC Ag. Head, Media and Publicity, Wilson Uwujaren, told Saturday PUNCH that it was not in the character of fraudsters to buy lands or build houses.He said, “They seldom even buy houses or have permanent addresses because of the nature of their activities. They often spend money on exotic cars, throw parties and generally squander the money on things that are not fixed. All the people arrested for such crimes are usually made to face the law.”

Uwujaren said there were signs that could put one on the guard. “If for instance somebody you have never met in person begins to pester you about your personal banking details online, chances are that the person may be a potential scammer.

Source : Punch

Colorado Mother And Daughter Sentenced For ‘Nigerian Internet Romance Scam.

A Colorado mother and daughter were sentenced on Wednesday for their roles in a “Nigerian internet romance scam.” Karen and Tracy Vasseur were convicted of stealing more than $1 million from 374 victims who thought they were sending money to aid members of the United States military.

“Not only did this mother-daughter duo break the law, they broke hearts worldwide,” said Colorado Attorney General John Suthers in an official statement. “It is fitting that they received stiff sentences for their unconscionable crimes committed in the name of love and the United States military.”

According to the indictment, unknown conspirators in Nigeria would establish online relationships with victims via e-mail or social media by sending them fake military documents and personal photographs. After the relationship was established, the purported military member would request large sums of money, ostensibly for satellite phones that would allow them to speak to the victims or travel funds that would allow them to visit.

Victims would then be instructed to send the money, typically through Western Union or Money Gram, to a “military agent” in Colorado. Tracy or Karen Vasseur would pick up the money and wire it to their Nigerian associates minus their 10 percent cut. In order to hide the amount and frequency of their transactions, the paired opened twenty bank accounts at eleven different banks and received wire transmissions at sixty-eight different locations in nineteen different cities. They forwarded the money to one-hundred twelve Nigerians at ninety-four different Nigerian addresses.

Their fraudulent scheme began to unravel on March 4, 2011, when Western Union noticed what court papers call “an unusual occurrence”:

Western Union records show that, at 4:03 p.m., after she had sent out three wires, Karen Vasseur sent a wire to Nigeria in the amount of $1,8945. The records then show that two minutes later, at 4:05 p.m., she received a wire in the same amount from a different Western Union location in Thornton, Colorado, and the name of the sender was Karen Vasseur. Just two minutes later, Karen Vasseur sent out four more wires from the same location where the previous four wires were sent from.

While the Vasseurs were careful to keep the total sum of the transactions beneath the threshold that would trigger an automatic vetting by Western Union, the company became suspicious when the same person wired money to-and-from herself from two different locations at the same time.

Tracy Vasseur received a 15-year sentence for role in the scheme. Karen received a 12-year sentence.

http://www.rawstory.com

SSS Arrests Car Dealer For Defrauding FCT Minister Senator Bala Mohammed Of N3m.

FCT Minister

The State Security Service has arrested a car dealer, Ibrahim Takat, for allegedly conspiring with a spiritualist, Nakasi Ahmadu, “to defraud the Federal Capital Territory Minister, Senator Bala Mohammed, of N3m.”
The duo were said to have cloned the minister’s telephone number which they used to send a text message to Mohammed’s Chief of Staff to deposit N3m in a Diamond Bank account.
The money was withdrawn the same day.
Parading Takat in Abuja on Friday, the Director of Operations, SSS, FCT Command, Ibrahim Halilu, explained that the car dealer used the minister’s cloned number to obtain the money on August 8, 2013 at Asokoro, Abuja.
He said, “Takat used the cloned phone number to give instruction to the Chief of Staff to the minister via text message to deposit N3m into his account number 0011141544 with Diamond Bank Plc. The amount was withdrawn the same day by the suspect.”
But Takat claimed he knew nothing about the alleged cloning of the minister’s telephone number, adding that the fraud was perpetrated by his friend, Ahmadu, who is on the run. He said Ahmadu used his (Takat) bank account to receive the money and gave him N400,000 in return.
The car dealer explained that he gave his bank account to the spiritualist because he had been his friend for over 20 years.
He said, “Ahmadu is my friend and he lives in Gombe; he asked me to give him my bank account for a business transaction which I obliged because I have known him for about 20 years and he has helped me in the past.
“The money (N3m) was deposited in my account and he withdrew it and gave me N400,000, but I didn’t know the money was criminally obtained.
“If I was involved in the scam, I would not have come to the SSS office when I was invited. I don’t know anything about it.

BSU Student Arrested For Forging Benue Commissioner's signature And Withdrawing N1.5million.

A final year student of Benue State University ,Thomas Tsezua ,who belongs to a syndicate that specializes in duping commercial banks in Makurdi,has been arrested by security agents for forging the signature and withdrawing the sum of N1.5 million from the account of the Hon Commissioner for Water Resources,Conrad Wergba.

It was gathered that luck ran out of Tsezua when the account holder Conrad Wergba, received an alert on his phone indicating the withdrawal of the said amount even as he had not sent anybody to the bank.

  Mr. Wergba quickly alerted the bank officials, whereby security men swung into action and arrested the fraudster.

 However, primary investigation on the fraudster further revealed that the culprit belongs to a criminal syndicate group led by one Chris Aernan, presently on the wanted list of security agents in the state.

 The victim of the criminal activity, Wergba, advised members of the public to be cautious of the existence of such notorious group in the state, urging them to always provide useful information to security agents to fast-track the arrest of such gangs.

  But as at the time of filing this report, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Daniel Ezeala denied knowledge of the incident, saying that he has not been briefed.