The police have paraded an alleged fraudster, Ekperebuike
Akadonye, parading himself as the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris,
on the Internet.
The 29-year-old suspect, who was apprehended by the Inspector-General
Special Intelligence Response Team, also allegedly defrauded a Saudi
Arabia-based doctor, identified as Hassan Alkahallaf, to the tune of $10,000.
Alkahallaf was said to have earlier been defrauded by
Nigerians via the Internet on two occasions, while efforts to recover the funds
had proved abortive.
Akadonpe got Alkahallaf into his trap when he introduced
himself as the IG and promised to help the doctor recover his loses.
He reportedly demanded $10,000 from Alkahallaf to facilitate
the legal processes of the recovery and the victim was said to have paid the
sum into his (Akadonpe’s) account in installments. Meanwhile, the doctor
contacted the IG through the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Nigeria after realising
that he had been duped again.
"The suspect contacted his victims, including Hassan
(Alkahallaf), who is attached to the Department of Urology, Security Forces
Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, via an email address, igofnieria@outlook.com,
purportedly belonging to IG Ibrahim Idris.
"He claimed that President Muhammadu Buhari, in his fight
against corruption, had directed the IG to make refunds to victims who had been
defrauded by Nigerians in the past.
"The doctor replied to Akadonye’s emails, believing he was
the real IG of the Nigeria Police Force, and he eventually paid him $10,000 in installments
to get back his lost funds. He lied to the doctor that he would use the money to
hire a lawyer who would represent him since he wasn’t based in Nigeria," the
source said.
"A mobile phone and a laptop he used in carrying out the
fraud were recovered from him. He was also found with ATM cards and an identity
card of a Federal Bureau of Investigation officer. He is currently being
interrogated by operatives of the IG response team," the source said.
The suspect, in his statement, allegedly confessed to the
fraud, saying he took to the crime after his shops were demolished by the
government.
He said, "I am a trader and I had shops in Mbano, Imo State.
But they were demolished by the government. One of my friends introduced me to
Internet fraud. I started by searching for prominent persons on the Internet.
When I found Dr Alkahallaf, he told me he had some funds trapped in Nigeria and
he wanted to claim them. I presented myself to him as the IG and told him the
President had mandated me to assist fraudsters’ victims to get back their lost
funds. I asked him to pay for a lawyer. He believed and paid me."
When contacted, the Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Don
Awunah, promised to get back to our correspondent with comments.
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