Operatives of the Nigeria Police Force have arrested twenty-four suspects comprising twenty-three male and one female for cybercrime and other related offences.
The suspects were arrested for their involvement and indictment in cases of romance and online dating scams, generating and deployment of fake bank alerts, hacking and fraudulent wire transfers, cyber stalking and impersonation of high-profile personalities in Nigeria and across the world.
Exhibits recovered from the suspects include; 11 laptop computers, 37 mobile phones, 11 SIM cards of different telecoms networks, 5 International passports, 12 ATM cards, fake US dollar notes, quantities of dry leaves suspected to be marijuana.
Notable amongst the cases is the arrest of three brothers – Emmanuel Ushie, 23, Henry Ushie, 30 years old who is a graduate of Statistics from Anambra State University and 28 years old Matthew Ushie, OND graduate from Federal Polytechnic Oko, for running a fake Frank Mba Foundation bank account with FCMB.
The trio used a fake Facebook account and the fraudulently operated bank account to defraud Nigerians under the pretence that the foundation is raising money to help the needy during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Investigations by the police operatives attached to the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) reveal that the brothers engage extensively and serially in such frauds and other related cyber crimes.
During manhunt of the fraudsters, Henry Ushie, the elder sibling to Emmanuel Ushie, was identified as the gang leader of the syndicate behind the scam.
Following weeks of intense follow-up and investigations, the kingpin – Henry was arrested on Thursday at a hideout in Ihiala, Anambra State.
His arrest eventually led to the arrest of his younger brother Mathew, who is also an active member of the syndicate.
Further investigation revealed that Mathew had been arrested in Ghana last year in a well publicised bust of fraudsters where he and other international fraudsters used the name of the Inspector General of Police of Ghana, John Kudalor to defraud unsuspecting Ghanaian policemen.
This was done under the guise of providing opportunity for them to attend ‘United Nations peacekeeping mission’ using a fake Facebook account.
Similarly, Henry had also been arrested in 2017 by the IRT for impersonating then ACP Abba Kyari on Facebook and defrauding many Nigerians before he was arrested and subsequently charged to court for impersonation.
He eventually got bail from the court and went back to same crime.
All the suspects will be charged to court at the conclusion of investigations.
