Emeka Ibemere
It’s not out of the wide of the mark, when somebody expresses core
ambitiousness, more so for one who thinks big, dreams big and talks big.
On the other hand, something is wrong when that person declined to act
big and work hard to stir up those dreamed ambitions into reality; through the appropriate
channels of life.
That is the muddled affairs of three young men, Emeka Ukor, Anthony
Uzonwanne and Babayemi Bukola as they look forward for seven years imprisonment
on conviction for forgery.
The trio were alleged to have conspired to clone the signature of the
Senate President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, David Mark and attempted
to move Mark’s hard earned money into their accounts.
In the recent time, the privacy of some Nigerian politicians and senior
citizens are in jeopardy. Their private signatures, pictures, phone numbers and
profiles have been stolen by some unscrupulous elements who fake the
credentials of these government officials to perpetrate frauds.
So, be on the watch out when a call comes to you through phone calls,
invitations, text messages, e-mail messages, Facebook, twitter and other sundry
social networks pretending to be Senate President, Finance Minister, Central
Bank Governor and other assorted high calibre positions.
Last week, February 5, 2014 to be precise, the trio of Emeka Ukor,
Anthony Uzonwanne and Babayemi Bukola laboured effortlessly to explain their
innocence before an Abuja High Court presided over by Justice S E Aladetoyinbo
when the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission, EFCC, arraigned them for forgery.
EFCC told the honourable court how the super fakers conspired and forged the signature of the
Senate President, Senator David Mark, in an attempt to illegally withdraw the
sum of N45 million from Mark’s bank account.
“The accused persons are being prosecuted by the EFCC on a seven count
charge bordering on conspiracy and forgery”, EFCC Head, Media & Publicity, Wilson Uwujaren, stated.
“At the resumed hearing of the case today, prosecution witness Benedict
Agweye who was lead in evidence by counsel to EFCC, Shata Jamila told the court
that the FinBank cheque with which the accused persons attempted to pull out
money from Senator Mark’s account was forged”.
According to the EFCC, Agweye said he came to this conclusion after
carrying out series of forensic analyses on the document.
He disclosed that on receipt of the forged FinBank (now FCMB), cheque
and the specimen of the genuine cheque, he commenced detailed analysis,
including simulation of the signatures to be able to identify the existing
characteristics in the disputed signature and the signature of the original
owner of the bank account.
He also said that when a stereomicroscopic analysis was conducted on the
documents in order to identify all of the microscopic characteristics in the
signatures not normally observable with the naked eye, that it still shows the
original owner of the signature.
He went further to tell the court that a spectral analysis was also
carried out on the documents using the foster and freeman VSC 5000. This,
according to him, was done to enable side-by-side comparison of the documents
under magnification and to also identify areas of obliteration and alteration
in the disputed FinBank cheque and the known specimen.
The result of these analyses, Agweye said revealed that the author
of the known specimen signature was not the author of the disputed FinBank
cheque leaflet.
The case was adjourned to March 10, 2014 for continuation of hearing.
Daily Newswatch gathered that Emeka, Anthony and Babayemi were arrested during
a follow-up to a complaint from the Senate President that the accused persons
conspired and forged a cheque leaflet allegedly belonging to FinBank dated
August 28, 2009 in an attempt to fraudulently withdraw the sum of N45m (forty
five million naira ) from his account.
Count two of the charge reads: “That you Emeka Ukor, Anthony Uzonwanne
and Babayemi Bukola, on or about the 5th October, 2009 within the
jurisdiction of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory fraudulently
moved a FinBank of Nigeria Plc cheque No. 00684074 dated 28th
August, 2009 drawn in favour of Aeromagnetic Fishers Limited on the account of
Honourable Brigadier General David Mark (rtd) in the sum of
N45,000,000.00 (Forty Five Million Naira) with the intention of taking the said
cheque dishonestly out of possession of the said Honourable Brigadier General
David Mark (rtd), and thereby committed an offence contrary to section 286 (1)
of the Penal Code Act cap.532 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (Abuja)
1990 and punishable under section 287 of the same Act”.
Riding on the same ambitious lane of making it big
without working for it, was another 34 year-old graduate of the Lagos State
University, Anthony Ezechukwu, who is now telling his investigators all he knew
about the forged Facebook profiles of senior citizens and high profile political
figures in Nigeria to defraud unsuspecting members of the country while smiling
to their banks. The super fakers allegedly invaded the Facebook accounts of the
wife of Lagos State governor, Abimbola Fashola; Minister of Finance and
Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala; wife of the minister
of the Federal Capital Territory, Aisha Bala Muhammad and the Director of the
Abuja Geographical Information Systems, Jamilah Tangaza. In all, the super
faker made money from his forgery acts.
EFCC apprehended Ezechukwu and his sophisticated
web of trickery recently while trying to defraud unsuspecting Nigerians. Ezechukwu
used the names of spouses of prominent Nigerian political figures and others
holding key offices to dupe unsuspecting members of the public.
According to the EFCC, Ezechukwu allegedly cloned
the Facebook accounts of the wife of Lagos State governor, Abimbola Fashola;
Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Ngozi
Okonjo-Iweala; wife of the minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Aisha
Bala Muhammad and the Director of the Abuja Geographical Information Systems,
Jamilah Tangaza. Asides, he went on a solicitation spree that fetched him
thousands of naira.
In each of the instances, he was alleged to have
devised clever baits to lure his victims. The report says, once he successfully
opened a Facebook account with the false identity of a Mrs Fashola, first lady
of Lagos State, he began to send out messages. Soon, requests for friendship
flooded his account. He exploited the frenzy by the unwary Facebook crowd that
wanted to be friends with a first lady, by directing some of them to meet with
‘her personal assistant’, who in turn demanded for various sums of money from
them in order to connect them with influential people in government and the
society.
Also, in the Facebook account he opened, he
allegedly used the name and photograph of Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. Ezechukwu
claimed he had job offers and directed interested job seekers to ‘her schedule
officer’ and not knowing that he was also the schedule officer who in turn
asked them to make payments into designated bank accounts which he opened.
The exploits of Ezechukwu would have gone unnoticed
until he overreached himself by cloning the Facebook account of Jamilah
Tangaza. With his address as www.facebook.com/agis.jamilahtangaza.9,
Ezechukwu set about exploiting the office of the influential AGIS boss to have
his cut of the lucrative apple that is Abuja property sector. His bait
came in the form of a message: “In my certified, endorsed and approved
capacity, as the director general of Abuja Geographical Information system,
AGIS, officially appointed by FCT minister (Senator Bala Mohammed) and his
administration on presidency acceptance and approvals (sic) to take control of
all lands and houses sales (sic) in FCT Abuja. Then I warned, using this medium
to advised (sic) the general public those who wish to buy land and houses in
FCT Abuja to channel all their inquiries, consultation and payment to me...”
The poorly constructed message notwithstanding some
persons who are desperate to own land or houses in the FCT fell for it and
began to wire money into his account. Indeed land speculation turned out a
goldmine for the scammer. The Facebook account he opened in the name of the
wife of the FCT minister, Aisha Muhammad turned out to be very rewarding. In a
post on the account, he claimed that the FCT had soft loan worth N10million for
disbursement to individuals but offered forms to interested persons at the rate
of N100, 000.
Unknown to the public that it was a scam, a certain
Usman Ahmed paid the sum of N100, 000 into a designed account with a new
generation bank.
Ezechukwu was however nabbed following a complaint
by Tangaza. He is currently assisting investigators probing the scam and will
be arraigned in court as soon as investigation is concluded
Meanwhile, following the forging of David Mark’s
signature, the EFCC again warn members of the public to be wary of
relationships in the social media that come with solicitations of any kind, and
circumspect in responding to gratuitous offers that look too good to be true.
On January, the officials of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency
(NDLEA) intercepted one hundred and seven (107) faked Citi Bank credit cards.
The Automated Teller Machine cards were detected inside a luggage during
the outward screening of Turkish Airline passengers to Istanbul, Turkey at the
Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.
A 36 year-old man who has a double identity was apprehended in
connection with the illegal possession of the cards. NDLEA Airport commander,
Mr Hamza Umar said that the suspect had two international passports bearing his
photographs but with different names.
“He had a Nigerian passport with the name Funsho Oladimeji Babatunde and
a Turkish passport with the name Kosar Kursat both bearing his photographs. The
cards found in his luggage are 68 Citi Interswitch Master Cards and 39 Citi Interswitch
Visa cards,” Hamza stated.
The suspect, who claimed to have come from Iwo town in Kwara State, also
stated that he lives in Surulere Lagos area of Lagos State. According to
NDLEA’s investigation, the suspect claimed to be a graduate of Kwara Polytechnic
and has an Ordinary National Diploma (OND), certificate holder.
In his statement, he told investigators that he was taking the cards to
a friend in Turkey.
“My friend in Turkey called me
that I should help in sending the cards to him in Istanbul, Turkey. When I
collected the cards in Lagos, I kept them in my bag but during search, the
officer saw the cards and took me for interrogation. I am an OND graduate at
the Kwara Polytechnic,” he stated.
Chairman/Chief Executive of the NDLEA, Ahmadu Giade had directed that
the suspect be transferred to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
(EFCC), for further investigation.
According to Giade, “preliminary investigation suggests that the suspect
had unlawful possession of 107 credit cards. The financial instruments are
believed to be used for fraudulent purposes since he is not an authorised
agent,” Giade stated.
The NDLEA boss promised to prevent any act capable of bringing the image
of the country to disrepute.
In August last year, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission arrested
one Kingsley Mudi over alleged ATM fraud. He was picked up at about 11 pm on
August 2, 2013 at Fidelity Bank ATM on Airport Road, Warri, and Delta State
following intelligence report.
At the point of his arrest, 30 ATM cards of different banks with which
he allegedly withdrew a total sum of five hundred and fifty thousand naira
(N550, 000) were found in his possession.
Also, eight signed UBA cheques belonging to sundry persons were also
found on him.
Kingsley Mudi claimed to be a Disc Jockey and an operator of a barbing
saloon. On further investigation, the suspect volunteered useful information on
the crime. He was later charged to court
as.
In January, 2014, NDLEA uncovered a currency trafficking syndicate with
the seizure of two hundred and forty thousand ($240,000) United States dollars
hidden inside dictionaries at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport
(MMIA), Lagos State.
There was also another case of a 39 year-old Congolese claimed to be
fashion designer who was later identified as Mfundu Angela.
She was arrested for attempting to export the suspected faked dollars to
Congo-Kinshasa through Cargolux airline before she was apprehended by the
anti-narcotic officers on duty at the MMIA.
NDLEA Commander at the MMIA Lagos, Mr. Hamza Umar, said that the seizure
was successful
“The suspect who hails from the
Democratic Republic of Congo brought a sewing machine and a bag containing
clothes and five dictionaries for export to Congo”, Umar added.
“There was high suspicion on the consignment and in the process of
search, the dictionaries were found to contain twenty-four (24) envelopes
containing ten thousand dollars ($10,000) each”.
Investigations revealed that the suspect was a divorcee and a mother of
two. She disclosed that the dollars were given to her by her boyfriend.
“I am a fashion designer from DR
Congo. I have two children but my husband and I have been separated. I came to
Nigeria in search of greener pastures in 2006. It was my boyfriend that gave me
the dictionaries to send to Congo”.
NDLEA boss, Ahmadu Giade described the discovery as a big boost for
airport and border securities in the country.
“This remarkable seizure is a big boost for our airport and border
security. It is an indication that criminal groups are fast becoming inept
based on our superior search operations,” Giade stated.
At the end of preliminary investigation, the suspect is expected to be
transferred to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for further
investigation and legal action.
Security agents say currency traffickers’ love for ferrying faked and
original dollars through the airports was because of the tight security on the
banks’ transactions by the monitoring agencies beaming their searchlights on
banks.
If you think it’s only those cases, then the jailed currency
counterfeiter who bagged four years Jail term would surprise you. Justice B. O Quadri of the Federal High Court,
Gombe sentenced one Mohammadu Chubado to four years imprisonment on a six count
charge of conspiracy, forgery, and unlawful possession of counterfeit Nigeria
currency notes.
Chubado, a member
of a syndicate involved in the printing and circulation of counterfeit Naira
currencies in Yola, Adamawa state and environs, was first arrested in March
2009 by the Department of State Services, DSS, and later handed over to the
EFCC, North East zonal office in Gombe for further investigation and
prosecution.
Daily
Newswatch learned that the accused person was first arraigned at the Federal
High Court, Gombe in May 2009.
In his judgment on
Wednesday January 15, Justice Quadri convicted Chubado on counts 1, 2, 3, and 4
bordering on conspiracy and counterfeiting of Nigeria bank notes, and unlawful
possession of counterfeit bank notes.
He was sentenced to
a year imprisonment on each count charge without an option of fine. The
sentences are to run concurrently from date of conviction.
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