By Christopher Oji
The Zone 2 Police Command, Onikan, Lagos, has arrested a trailer mechanic for allegedly leading a fraudster syndicate, which specialized in robbing people of their phones and using their BVN to transfer money from the victims accounts to that of member.
The suspect,Ogbonnaya Junior Duru, an indigene of Imo State, who he has his workshop along Trinity Area of Berger Cement, Apapa, named five most porus banks and easiest to defraud.
Duru, who is being interrogated by the Zonal Enquiry Bureau (ZEB) of the command, confessed that he was introduced into the criminal act in 2019, by his friend, Kareem, who lives in Ajegunle, and has been in the business of criminality since then.
According to Zonal Police Public Relations Officer (ZPPRO) Zone 2 Command headquarters,SP Hauwa Idris Adamu,” the modus operandi of the notorious syndicate is that when three members of the syndicate,Praise; Emmanuel, and Osaron, whose areas of specialization is to steal mobile phones from members of the public, by pick-pocketing, one-chance robbery or any other means,have stolen the phones, they would bring the SIM cards to Duru , who finds out which bank(s) the SIM cards are linked to; check the account balance, reset the USSD pin, and transfer funds from the owner’s account to any accounts provided by a member of the syndicate,Joshua( a.k.a. Alert), who is currently at large. Duru further confessed that Alert takes 20% of the proceed and returns 80% either in cash or transfer to him (Duru), who takes 40% of the proceed and delivers 40% to whoever that brings the BVN/Bank linked to SIM card.
“He further confessed that there are other suspects who consult him from Rivers, Akwa Ibom, and Cross River States, who usually send him consultation fees. He told us that the least money he has transferred from an account is N100,000:00 ,while the maximum he has transferred is N1,400,000:00k.
“He added that the said Alert ,operates many accounts in different banks and as such, would make the funds available for sharing the same day without delay.
“When Duru was asked how many SIM cards he has fraudulently transferred monies from, he said he averagely works on 5-6 SIM cards in a week, and after the transaction, he would return the SIM cards to whoever that brought them and that he has lost counts of the number of SIM cards he has transferred money from”.
SP Adamu, said the arrest of Duru was sequel to intelligence received by the Assistant Inspector- General of Police Zone 2 Command, Mr. Ari Mohammed Ali, that there was a syndicate of young Nigerians, who specialized in stealing phones from members of the public, and transferring monies from victims BVN/Bank linked SIM cards to a member’s accounts.
The AIG detailed operatives of the Zonal Enquiry Bureau to discretely investigate and apprehend the syndicate.
“Based on the directive of the AIG, Duru,was arrested. During interrogation, Duru listed five banks that fraudsters can easily defraud and other banks that are difficult to defraud.
We want to advise members of the public to beware of criminal elements in the society and ensure that they secure their valuables very well,while criminals are warned to relocate from Lagos and Ogun States which form the Zone 2 Command ,as the long arm of the law will soon catch up with them”.