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By John Ogunsemore
A TikToker, Mbah Chidinma Sophina, has been arrested by operatives of the Enugu Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over an alleged case of criminal breach of trust and obtaining by false pretence to the tune of N19 million and €8,370 under the pretext of procuring a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) for her victim.
In a Thursday statement, the EFCC said 33-year-old Sophina was arrested following claims of a petitioner that sometime in 2024, he informed the suspect whom he met on TikTok, of his intention to relocate to the United Kingdom through a CoS in order to work as a care giver.
The suspect, who claimed to be an Assistant Psychologist at Priory Health Unit in Glasgow, Scotland also allegedly claimed that she had contacts who could secure a CoS at the cost of €12, 000 to €13,000.
“She instructed that payments be made partly in Nigerian Naira and partly in Euros. She provided her bank details for Naira payments and the foreign accounts of her associates for Euro payments, claiming she does not use her personal foreign accounts for business transactions”, EFCC quoted the petitioner as saying.
The petitioner said he paid the sum of N19 million in eight tranches between August 8, 2024 and November 12, 2024 while the Euro payments were made in four tranches between August 12, 2024 and November 21, 2024.
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The said payments were made for processing his Certificate of Sponsorship.
According to EFCC, after acknowledging receipt of payments, the suspect failed to deliver the document as promised as the petitioner waited for months.
“He thereafter requested for a refund only for the suspect to send a fake transfer notification before blocking him on social media.
“In the course of investigation, the suspect claimed that the money was handed over to another individual but has been nonchalant in assisting the investigators in reaching the person.
“The suspect will be charged to court as soon as investigations are concluded,” the commission said.
