A businessman, Saheed Audallahi, has been arrested by the Special Fraud Unit of the Nigeria Police Force for allegedly defrauding a Chinese company of N165, 480,000. According to the police, the suspect defrauded JI Chu Industries Nigeria Limited of the sum under the pretext of changing it to its dollars equivalent. .
The policemen at the Milverton, Ikoyi office of the SFU, added that when operatives stormed the suspect’s home at Magodo, Lagos, a shrine was discovered, while 30 passports and four cars were recovered.
The SFU spokesman, Lawal Audu, said the unit received a petition from Akande and Akande Chambers, on behalf of its clients, JI Chu Industries, which manufactured foot wears at its factory in Ejigbo, Lagos.
Audu, an Assistant Superintendent of Police, said, “ The petitioner alleged that one Saheed Audallahi, aka Ibile, who operates under a business name, BMTC Logistics, obtained the sum of N165,480,000 under the pretext of transferring the sum of $400,000 to JI Chus business partner in China. As soon as the suspect received the said sum, he generated a fake telex transfer slip and gave same to the complainant as a proof of transfer of the money to China.” The SFU spokesman further explained that when the complainant received the telex, he contacted his business partner, who denied receiving any money. “It was at this point the complainant realised he had been swindled by the suspect, hence the petition,” said Audu.
It was gathered that detectives from SFU later arrested the suspect at a house in Magodo Phase II, Lagos, on December 17, 2016. “The suspect’s arrest was dramatic as he tried to prevent policemen from gaining access into his home. When policemen got into his home, they made a shocking discovery of a fully equipped shrine, which is believed to be a powerful tool for deceiving his victims. Various incriminating items, such as 30 passports, four cars, different forged certificates purportedly authourising him to recruit students from Nigeria to institutions in America and Cyprus, were found” Audu added.- The police said further investigations revealed that the suspect was involved in numerous criminal activities, ranging from illegal bank transfers, hacking, and visa racketeering to issuance of fake foreign academic certificates. “The suspect is also operating fake freight forwarding at our airports and seaports. The suspect is neither a licensed BDC operator nor a licensed customs clearing agent. “It is also worthy of note that the latest fraudulent trick of these forex scammers is pretentiously paying back little amount from the whole sum that was swindled, thereby falsely building the minds of the victims that there is willingness to refund, whereas it is a pure scam.” The suspect, however, denied defrauding the Chinese company.
He explained that the business deal between him and the company was just a forex business that went wrong.
He said, “I need between three to four months to sort everything out from the UK end of the transaction.” He said things started going wrong when the UK government alleged that the money could be proceeds of money laundering.
He said to show good faith, he had already raised N60m, which he gave to the Chinese company.
cc
