A man, who allegedly specialised in opening multiple accounts
with different names to defraud banks, other financial institutions and
unsuspecting victims, has been arrested by operatives of the Special
Fraud Unit (SFU), Ikoyi, Lagos.
The suspect, late Oba
Olutayo Nwachukwu, was arrested following a petition received by the
unit on February 12, which alleged that the suspect appeared at Amuwo
Odofin Branch of Zenith Bank to open a savings account with an already
completed savings account-opening package with the name, Obiozor
Ifeanyi. He was said to have identified himself as such with a National
Identity Card.
The petitioner said that while the bank’s customer
service office was checking the documents, the suspect went to the
marketing unit and collected another savings account opening package and
completed same with another name, Ogueji Nnamdi. The suspect allegedly
returned to the customer service desk and presented same for account
opening with another National Identity Card bearing Ogueji Nnamdi.
It
was learnt that customer service officer became suspicious and she
decided to search the system with phone number, 08162502677, supplied by
the customer. Then, she discovered that the same person had already
opened about 25 savings accounts at various branches with different
names.
It was further alleged that he opened and operated a
corporate account number 1012000129 belonging to Chukon Integrated
Limited. He was said to have identified himself as Okonkwo Nwachukwu
while opening the said account.
Police said the suspect is 39-year-old and from the Okija Ihiala Local Government Area of Anambra State.
Spokesperson
to SFU, Ngozi Isintume-Agu, said: “He is into cargo business and used
to accompany goods from China to Lagos. He stated that his office is
located at Block 4, Shop 169 A.P.T. Market Trade Fair, Lagos.
She
said: “The suspect confessed to the alleged crime, but stated that the
multiple accounts he opened was to enable him run his business
successfully. He said the current cashless policy did not allow him to
withdraw huge sums of money in one account and as such, he was advised
to open multiple accounts so as to spread his money. He added that he
had N50,000.00 each in 15 different accounts, while the remaining
accounts have N20,000.00, N10,000.00 and N5,000.00 respectively. He
equally confessed that the National Identity Card and PHCN bills were
all forged by one Pepper who is still at large. The suspect came back
from China on January 27 and started the multiple account opening from
February 5 to February 7 when he was apprehended. Investigation is
on-going to unravel the motive behind the multiple account opening.”
The
Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of the Unit, DCP Zubairu Muazu,
advised banks to properly scrutinise their account-opening customers.
He commended the Zenith Bank management for their quick discovery of
the antics of the suspected fraudster and advised other banks to be on
the alert
READ MORE: http://news.naij.com/61423.html
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