EFCC arrests 393 suspects in Kano, Edo

No fewer than 393 suspects have been arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for their alleged involvement in various financial crimes in Kano and Edo states.

Briefing the press in Kano yesterday, the zonal head of the commission, Assistant Commissioner of Police Akaninyene Ezima, said that the suspects were arrested between January and August 2019.

He further noted that 51 of the suspects have been charged to court, adding that the other cases are at various stages of investigation by the commission.

He added that they recovered over N798.5 million from some of the suspects, adding the figure included the sum of N248, 544, 000, which was seized from three passengers at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA) on their way out of the country.

He acknowledged that the commission was deeply concerned about the spate of cyber-crimes in the society while regretting that the perpetrators of these crimes have dented the image of the country.

He, however, assured that the commission in the zone has mapped out new lines of intelligence and strategies with a view to fighting cyber crimes in the society.

He advised the members of the public never to let out information about their bank account details to anybody, adding that the criminals were in the habit of making such requests from their targets.

Similarly, operatives of the Benin zonal office of the EFCC in collaboration with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have arrested a female suspected cyber fraudster.

The zonal head, Muhtar Bello, who announced this yesterday in Benin City, said the suspect is involved in obtaining/stealing people’s identification information which she forward to her American collaborator.

“Her collaborator uses it to file for fraudulent tax return with the Internal Revenue Service. She receives her cut through Bitcoin. About 185 Bitcoins, which by current market value is N656,371,490, has been traced to her,” Bello said.

He further announce that as part of its strategic plans to rid the society of economic and financial crimes, especially Internet fraud and cyber crimes, the Benin zonal office from January to date, through intelligence, raided the hideouts of Internet fraudsters in its area of jurisdiction comprising Edo, Delta and Ondo States and and arrested 113 internet fraudsters.

Bello also disclosed that the Benin Zonal Office independently arrested a cyber criminal and two siblings who are involved Business Email Compromise (BEC).

He said the suspect’s modus operandi was searching for victims’ email addresses, especially official business email addresses, a phishing link and compromising the process in order to defraud unsuspecting victims, adding that the suspects would soon be charged to court.

Besides, Bello disclosed that the commission has secured 53 convictions in the period under review while prosecution of many cases are ongoing in court.