By Ronke Adebayo
The Nigeria Police Force (NPF), through the Police Special Fraud Unit (PSFU), has uncovered a sophisticated fraud syndicate allegedly responsible for the diversion of over N713.9 million from customers’ bank accounts.
Force Public Relations Officer, DCP Anthony Okon Placid, disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday, describing the operation as a major breakthrough in the fight against financial and cyber-related crimes.
According to him, the investigation began after a financial institution reported a series of unauthorised withdrawals traced to security breaches linked to a third-party platform.
“Acting on the complaint, operatives of the PSFU deployed advanced investigative and digital forensic techniques, which revealed that 15 customers’ accounts were compromised, with funds swiftly funnelled through a network of accounts in a coordinated laundering operation,” the statement said.
The police said the operation led to the arrest of two suspects identified as Oguntoyinbo Olawale and Kazeem Omokayode.
Further investigations reportedly revealed that the suspects worked in collaboration with a Chinese national identified simply as Linda, who is currently at large.
Police said the syndicate used stolen personal identification details, including Bank Verification Numbers (BVN), National Identification Numbers (NIN), and other sensitive credentials, to open multiple bank accounts across different financial institutions.
The accounts, investigators said, were then used to receive, conceal and launder the stolen funds.
The police added that the suspects currently in custody would be arraigned before a competent court upon the conclusion of investigations, while efforts were ongoing to arrest other members of the syndicate still on the run.
Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Rilwan Disu, commended officers of the Police Special Fraud Unit for the successful operation and reaffirmed the commitment of the Nigeria Police Force to tackling financial crimes and cyber-enabled offences across the country.
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