The Economic and Financial Crime Commission, EFCC, Sokoto Zonal Office has arrested another FBI-wanted internet fraudster identified as Emmanuel Adedeji Oluwatosin.
He was arrested in Kaduna on 29 August by EFCC operatives. The Zonal Head, Abdullahi Lawal said Oluwatosin’s name is on the wanted list of the FBI.
Lawal while parading the suspect in Sokoto on Thursday listed the assets recovered from his residence. They were Mercedes Benz E550, Mercedes Benz C450, an IPhone, laptops, modem and SIM cards.
Lawal added that the suspect and his accomplices both in Nigeria and overseas, acquired retirement account information (RAI) and personally identifiable information (PII) of multiple persons which they fraudulently used to wire funds into newly created business bank accounts tied to the fraudulently created business. The proceeds were then converted into cryptocurrency.
He said preliminary investigation had so far revealed that about N1.4 billion passed through the suspect’s accounts and the commission had also traced N70 million investment.
The tools Muzakkir Muhammad uses to fool people
Efforts are on to recover the money, Lawal said.
In a related development, Lawal said the Commission arrested another EFCC wanted suspect, Muzakkir Muhammad, through a sister agency, in connection with an alleged case of obtaining money under false pretences and production of fake currencies.
He said the suspect was reported by one of his victims, Abdullahi Ibrahim after he had defrauded another victim, Samaila Sani, a Bureau de Change operator to the tune of $33,850.
“Meanwhile, the first complainant, Ibrahim alleged that Muzakkri Muhammad collected N2,350,000 from him on the pretest of producing $100,000 for him, which he has not produced. And he was yet to refunded the Naira amount given to him.
“However, a search was conducted at his house and several incriminating items which the suspect used in luring and defrauding his victims were recovered.
“His method is to make his victims believe that he possesses some form of supernatural abilities of communicating with Spirits, while in the actual sense, they are mere tricks which he uses to deprive them of their hard earnings.”
Also paraded are four Sokoto local government officials who defrauded civil servants on the payroll of State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) by deducting irregular amount of monies from their salaries since 2013.
The Suspects are: Ishaka Abdullahi (Education Secretary), Abdullahi Idris (Deputy Education Secretary), Abdullahi Dadi (Cashier), and Idris Wamabai (Accountant).
The suspects would soon be charged to court.