Men of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Ondo state have arrested two members of a syndicate who specialized in trading in bank accounts to perpetrate criminal activities.
The two suspects apprehended by the men of the Counter Terrorism Unit of the NSCDC include Maxwell Lakoju and Adejumo David, who have confessed to being involved in the buying and selling of bank accounts from unsuspecting members of the public under various guises.
The Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the NSCDC, Daniel Aidamenbor, who made this known in his statement, said the two suspects were arrested for fraudulently obtaining account details for criminal use.
Aidamenbor explained that “Investigation activities began when one Mr Oluwole, a car dealer, alleged that the sum of N1.5m paid into his United Bank of Africa(UBA) account was stolen by cyber criminals overnight.
“A forensic analysis of the UBA statement of account of Mr Oluwole revealed a certain Palmpay account El-Saeed Yusuf used an account of 9133771898 and received a sum of N200,000 from the N1.5m stolen from the account of Mr Oluwole and the balance sum used for online purchases.
“Zenith bank account, Sampson Onyenebe, received the entire ₦200,000 from the Palmpay account of El-Saeed Yusuf while another account, John Yobg Dadd 7025128574 at Firstmonie equally received other sums from El-Saeed Yusuf Palmpay account.
” Sampson Onyenebe, who was arrested in Owerri, Imo state, claimed that he met Maxwell Lakoju, a.k.a Ifa Dollar, on Facebook in 2022, and they discussed and agreed on how Maxwell would assist him with metaphysical power for wealth.
“Among other requirements for the process, Sampson Onyenebe paid several thousands of naira through an account belonging to David Adejumo, and he also handed over Automated Teller Machine (ATM) cards, Personal Identification Numbers (PINs) of about Eight bank accounts belonging to himself and his wife to Maxwell.
“The arrest of David Adejumo led to the arrest of Maxwell Lakoju in Auchi, Edo State. Both suspects confessed to obtaining the bank accounts and their details, including the ATM cards by courier from Sampson and his wife.
Aidamenbor stated further that “Both suspects also confessed to have equally obtained and procured details of other bank accounts from other individuals and sold same to persons whom they claimed usually place regular demands for such.
He, however, said that “Investigation is still ongoing to determine the involvement of bank officials and Information Technology professionals in this new cybercrime activities.”
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