Fake Lamorde jailed

Emeka Ibemere

Another high profile impersonator in Kano State has received judgement for his shenanigans for trying to claim another person’s profile.

The convict was one of the Kano State syndicates that specialize in forging eminent Nigerians’ profile to commit fraud.

The young criminal was arraigned by the EFCC, on three count charges of impersonation and obtaining by false pretence levelled against him.

Before Justice Farouq Lawal of the Kano State High Court, he was convicted and sentenced. Daniel Okpara was handed to three years imprisonment for impersonating the chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mr Ibrahim Lamorde.
According to the EFCC, the convict allegedly opened a Facebook account, presenting himself as the Executive Chairman of EFCC and began to solicit and collect money from job seekers under the pretext of offering them employment at the commission.
During trial, Daniel who was arraigned on May 27, 2014, pleaded guilty to the 3-count charge of impersonation and obtaining by false pretence preferred against him by the EFCC.

His Defence counsel, Bello Dahiru pleaded with the court to tamper justice with mercy, stressing that the convict is a first time offender and has been remorseful since his arrest.

He also prayed the court to take into account the fact that the convict did not waste the time of the court and that he was a promising young man with a pregnant wife.
Justice Lawal, consequently sentenced the convict to one year imprisonment on counts two and three with no option of a fine, while the convict was to serve one year imprisonment and pay a fine of N50, 000 (Fifty Thousand Naira only) on count one. All sentences are to run concurrently.

Daniel’s journey was also the muddled affairs of three younger men, Emeka Ukor, Anthony Uzonwanne and Babayemi Bukola who are also on trial for forgery and impersonation.

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.

It would be restated that in the recent time, the privacy of some Nigerian politicians and senior citizens have been faked. 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.

The modus -operandi of the impersonators ranges from making calls to their would be victims, invitations, text messages, e-mail messages, Facebook, twitter and other sundry social networks pretending to be Ibrahim Lamorde, Senate President, Finance Minister, Central Bank Governor and other assorted high calibre positions.

Recently,  one 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”.     

On the same fate 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.

In another development, Federal High Court sitting in Jos and presided by Justice Andrel Alagwa sentenced a Jos businessman, Ibrahim Nayaya to two years imprisonment in a case brought before the court by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

Nayaya was arraigned on June 15, 2013 on one count charge that borders on obtaining by trickery, contrary to and punishable under Section 421 of the Criminal Code Act, Cap C38, Laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (LFN) 2004.

The convict, a transporter and dealer in black oil allegedly obtained N6million from one Umar Ibrahim, an Ashaka (Gombe State) businessman, for the purpose of supplying some truck load of Black oil. The product was neither supplied nor the money returned to Umar. Justice Alagwa found Nayaya guilty as charged and thereby sentenced him to two years imprisonment with an option of fine in the sum of N500, 000.