Operatives of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) in Lagos State have arrested suspected members of a 7-man fraud syndicate specialized in stealing from dead people’s bank account.
The police said the arrest of the gang leader, Osita Nwafor, alias Ossy, 45, facilitated the arrest of six other members: Nwogu Joseph Chika (36), Anthony Odama (43), Ikechukwu Nkem (32), James Okonkwo (51), Adedio Paulinus (29) and Ogundepo Olufemi (51).
The arrest botched a transfer of N25 million from a locally based bank account, $220,000 from an international account and an initial fraudulent transaction of N3 million that had been perfected by the syndicate through a cloned SIM card.
According to the police, investigation revealed that the suspects work with bank insiders locally and internationally. They allegedly scout for obituaries of well-to-do members of the public, use bank insiders to determine the deceased account balance and, clone their SIM cards for online transfer.
It was learnt that one of the bank insiders was arrested in Lagos while another based in Benin is on the run after suspecting the gang had been busted and that police are on his trail.
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The suspected gang leader, Nwafor, disclosed that Nwogu was working on the transfer of $220,000 fresh transaction from a foreign bank before he was arrested.
Another member of the syndicate, Femi Ogundepo, was also said to be working on a fraudulent transaction of N25 million from an old generation bank with an insider connivance.
James Okonkwo, it was allegedly, cornered N8 million fraudulent proceed of the gang shortly before his arrest. This, it was learnt, was the cause of a serious dispute between Nwafor and Okonkwo.