Three men who belong to a fraud syndicate and impersonated top government officials including the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, have been arrested by men of the Delta State Police Command after defrauding a community leader of the sum of N5.475 million.
They were said to have carried out various fraudulent activities under the guise of securing employment, political appointments and other government privileges for people.
The names of those arrested were given as Aghogho Okpogbodu (aged 51), Moses Exist (aged 48) and Benjamin Owah (aged 49) and they were nabbed following an investigation by detectives attached to the Area Command, Effurun.
Preliminary reports by the police indicated that the men used SIM cards purportedly registered under the identities of prominent public officials, including Senator Akume; Chief Onoriode Sunday, Director of Protocol to the Governor of Delta State; and Prince Johnson Erijo, a top aide to the Governor of Delta State, among others.
They also exploited a caller-identification application on mobile phones, which displays names associated with incoming telephone numbers, to create the false impression that their calls originated from the officials that they impersonated.
In one of their activities, the men impersonated the Director of Protocol to the Governor of Delta State and defrauded a community leader from Otu-Jeremi of ₦5.475 million under the pretence of facilitating his appointment as President-General of the community.
According to the state police command in a statement on Tuesday, October 20, a search of their premises led to the recovery of seven mobile phones, seventeen SIM cards, twelve ATM cards bearing different account holders’ names, one Point-of-Sale (POS) terminal and documents containing financial and identification information belonging to different individuals.
They were said to have given more useful information to the police operatives while investigation is ongoing to identify other possible victims and accomplices.
They will be charged to court at the conclusion of the investigation.
