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Two men, Ahmed Sanusi and Busola Obadara, who over the weekend confessed that they have cloned over 250 ATM cards and stolen over N1million from their victims' accounts since August 2009 have been arrested by the police. The two men, both from Ogun State, were caught by the Police Special Fraud Unit (SFU), Ikoyi, Lagos, at a new generation bank in Abeokuta. They said they chose a fraudulent business because they realised they could make easy money from it.

Explaining their mode of operation, Mr. Sanusi, 28, said he had a website claiming to be the bank's, built for him by an Indonesian. He then sent thousands of e-mails to unsuspecting customers, asking them to reveal their ATM card details.

"When the customer reveals their card information, we will store the information into our laptop and then we'll clone the card with the information and go and withdraw the money from the person's account," Mr. Sanusi said.

Made in China

Mr. Obadara, 32, who said he is an Accounting graduate from Ibadan Polytechnic, claimed he bought the cloning machine and two blank ATM cards from China for about N14,000 through the Internet. He said he learnt how to use it himself by reading the accompanying manual.

"I saw the Read and Write Machine on the net and ordered for it from China through DHL. It cost me $80. I'll then connect the machine to a computer and swipe the blank reusable card in the machine. Automatically the person's details are stored on the blank card," Mr. Obadara said.

Speaking on the arrest, the Ogun State commissioner of Police, Saba Ndagi, said following several complaints of ATM fraud from the bank, a trap was laid leading to the arrests of the accused persons.

"From the bank's reports together with the footage obtained from the ATMs, we identified the suspects. We first arrested Busola and then his partner, Ahmed. We then searched his residence and discovered the cloning machine, two laptops containing personal card details, including pins of the bank's customers and other documents," Mr. Ndagi said.

When asked what they did with all the money they had stolen, they said they had nothing to show for their crime...

"I don't have a car, land or home, nothing. I don't have anything to show for what I have done. The harm has been done already. I don't have anything to say anymore. My mind is not stable," said Mr. Obadara.


Yahoozeee ! e no dey payeeeeee !

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The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Saturday hauled in two more big fishes from the troubled waters of the five dirty banks. John Maha, the Managing Director of Afribank Securities was lured out of hiding while Niyi Opeodu, Managing Director of Union Capital Markets was arrested from his Lekki residence, in Lagos.This is just as one of the flamboyant billionaires in the country (names withheld) has sold his hotel at a give-away price to ensure that he was not caught napping at the end of the day.Our source disclosed that the billionaire owes one of the banks over N14 billion, but did not say how much the hotel was sold.Recalcitrant debtor, James Ibori & his partner in crime Dodgy Cecilia Ibru"This hotel is not your run-of-the-mill hotels. It is a very big one largely used by expatriates and oil industry employees. Because of the huge embarrassment an EFCC arrest could cause his reputation, the man has decided to let the hotel go, believing that he who fights and runs away would live to fight another day. I am not sure how much he sold it, but the buyer could not have paid the actual worth of the property", the source told our reporter.Also, one of the debtors of Oceanic Bank and chairman of the Dangote Group of Companies, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, paid a whopping sum of N3.1 billion to the bank on Thursday.Confirming the payment on Friday, acting Managing Director of Intercontinental Bank Plc, Mr Joseph Ajewole, said the bank has recorded giant strides in debt recovery.He said: "A lot of the delinquent debtors have reached us. Many have paid substantial amounts while others have come forward to discuss with us about their plans to repay."As the seven-day ultimatum given to the debtors of the five troubled banks draws near, some of them have started selling their assets to recover the money to pay up before the ultimatum expires. It was not clear on Friday how the debtors raised the funds to offset the debts, but Sunday Sun learnt that most of them are selling their choice property in choice locations in Abuja and Lagos to enable them beat the Wednesday deadline by the EFCC for them to pay up.So far, about N18 billion has been recovered from debtors of the five distressed banks, whose management and managing directors were sacked by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, penultimate Friday.Sunday Sun gathered at the weekend that Intercontinental Bank Plc has so far recovered N4.8 billion while Afribank Plc has recovered N3 billion. Others are Oceanic Bank Plc N4.5 billion and Union Bank about N6 billion.Meanwhile, Mr. Femi Babafemi, the anti-corruption agency’s spokesman, told Sunday Sun that John Maha had been playing hide-and-seek with the agency for six days before the long arms of EFCC reeled him in at the weekend."The EFCC had been on his trail since Monday, but each time we got closer he changed location. We decided to use other operational tactics to lure him out of his nest to a place where our operatives were waiting for him."Babafemi also disclosed that both Maha and Opeodu had been fingered in further allegations of book cooking, setting up fake companies to process out loans that are not repaid.With few days to the EFCC deadline for bank debtors to pay what they owed the banks or go to jail, highly placed sources at the Commission told Sunday Sun that at the expiration of the deadline, every defaulter would become the guest of EFCC."We are prepared for the task ahead and nobody should delude himself that he or she is too big to be arrested by the EFCC. The Chairman has given express instruction that all and anybody who does not do the honourable thing by Tuesday should be brought in. We have enough space for all of them."Some of those already arrested will be arraigned and taken to prison to make room for new ‘intakes’, the source assured.Sunday Sun also learnt that bank CEOs that have so far refused to show up at EFCC risked being declared wanted. "It is a shame really that these people Nigeria once trusted with their hard-earned money are unwilling to submit themselves to the law. After receiving awards from everywhere, they are now on the run. We know what to do and it is in their interest to submit to EFCC instead of waiting until after they are become fugitives from the law. We are closing in on them and whether they stay in Nigeria or escape abroad, we believe it would really be a shame if a former bank chief executive’s face and photo is displayed as one of the ‘wanted men’ in the same newspapers and television screens that once carried their awards", our source said.The EFCC source went on to say that one of the CEOs on the run would most likely surrender as her pastor and church are seriously persuading her to save herself and the church the embarrassment of being declared wanted."The CEO in question is a member of a big Pentecostal church and her quite respectable General Overseer and elders are persuading her to come out of hiding.The anti-graft agency decided to take the tough stance because, according to it, there is urgency in salvaging the banking industry from economic strangulation orchestrated by the heavy debt burdens on the banks.The debtors, who include the who-is-who in business and political circles in Nigeria, are together owing the five distressed banks about N747 billion.The EFCC, according to its chairman, Mrs Farida Waziri, will enforce Section 42 of the Establishment Act 2004, which states that "any offence committed or proceedings instituted before the commencement of this Act under the provisions of the(a) miscellaneous Offences Act (b) the Banks and Other Financial institutions Act 1991 as amended; (c) Failed Banks ( Recovery of Debts) and Financial Malpractices in Banks Act, as amended (d) the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act (e), the Money Laundry Act or any other law or regulation relating to Economic and Financial Crimes, shall as the case may be, required to be enforced or continued to be enforced by the commission."The CBN had, on Thursday, published the list of debtors (both institutions and individuals) who secured the loans worth over N747 billion from the five banks. It included names such as Alhaji Musa Bashir, Bashir Adamu, Abba Dasuki, Mr Jimoh Ibrahim, Chudi Ajaegbu and Chiamaka Ajaegbu; Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke, Aliko Dangote, Femi Otedola and a host of others.( Culled from the sun)
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A policeman in uniform and wielding an AK47 rifle was caught in the web of ’sakawa’ last Wednesday, when he and two civilians were arrested for allegedly defrauding a Namibian of $7,900.The policeman and his civilian accomplices were in the process of collecting another $29,000 from the victim to be used to pay taxes on a so-called $30-million facility which they claimed he could access after the payment of the “taxes”, when the police arrested them.The three suspects managed to lure their victim to Ghana with the intention of defrauding him in a ’sakawa’ scam that has become notorious in the country.The victim possessed documents, including letterheads bearing the Ghana Coat of Arms, indicating correspondence between him and the suspects through the Internet.After the victim had arrived in the country, the suspects collected his passport from him but he declined a hotel accommodation offered by his hosts and arranged for an alternative accommodation.Later at a meeting with the Namibian, the suspects succeeded in collecting $7,900 from him as part of the tax obligation needed to redeem the $30-million facility.Subsequently, they attempted to relocate the victim to another hotel, while trying to collect another $29,000 from him, but he became worried when they refused to give his passport back to him.The Namibian then discussed the issue with the hotel manager who, smelling something fraudulent, asked the victim to feign interest, while they contacted the police.Following the discussion with the hotel manager ­the Namibian informed his hosts that he needed his passport to enable him to check out of the hotel.So on Wednesday, while the suspects had gone to the hotel to evacuate their guest, police officers in plain clothes swooped on them and effected their arrest.At the time of their arrest, the policeman involved was waiting in a vehicle they had brought to convey the victim and according to sources, there was a struggle between the plain clothed policemen and the police suspect as he attempted to resist arrest.Sources at the Criminal Investigation Department of the police have confirmed the arrest of the three suspects but would not give further details, particularly their identities.
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