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| Nigeria oil scam |
By Ifeanyi Okolie
LAGOS — The Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission, EFCC, yesterday said it arrested two suspected fraudsters who
allegedly defrauded a foreign investor of $7.99 million through a non-existent
oil deal .
Spokesman for the commission, Wilson Uwujaren, who gave the
identities of the suspects as Victor Uwadiale and Captain Nnaji Everest, said
they were arrested separately by the operatives in Festac area and another part
of the state.
Uwujaren described Uadiale as the principal suspect and arrow
head of an international syndicate, which specialised in defrauding
international businessmen seeking investment opportunities in Nigeria.
Uwujaren further said: “Uwadiale allegedly invited the investor,
a businessman from somewhere in the Middle East, to invest in the flourishing
oil sector in Nigeria.
“Using a pseudo name, Victor Emeka, he made the investor to
visit Nigeria and received him at the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport,
Abuja and thereafter flew him in a helicopter to a destination where he
reportedly met a certain Mr. Grant, a member of the syndicate, who assured him
of the credibility of the business arrangement.
“Convinced that Uwadiale was real and the business promising,
the investor started paying money in foreign currency into Uadiale’s offshore
accounts where it was laundered into various bank accounts around the globe.
“A sum of $ 1.292 million was traced to a Barclay’s Bank in the
United Kingdom, account belonging to Captain Nnaji Everest, a member of
Uadiale’s syndicate.
“The sum of N1. 6 million, N1.2 million, £894.79 and $275.30
were traced to Uwadiale’s accounts with one of the new generation banks in
Nigeria and another £391.93 to another local bank.”
Uwujaren added also that during investigation, Uwadiale denied
meeting or transacting any business with the foreign investor. He was, however,
nailed by a business associate of the investor who identified him as the
fraudster and led operatives of the EFCC to the private residence of Uwadiale
in Festac Town, Lagos.
Both Uwadiale and Everest will soon be charged to court.
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