Detectives attached to the Anti Fraud Unit of the Force Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, FCIID Alagbon, Ikoyi Lagos, have arrested a Catholic Knight, Paulson Ogbonna, for allegedly swindling N100m from a businessman.
Suspected fraudster
The 58 -year-old Knight of a Catholic church in Ojudu Berger area of Lagos, was alleged to also been parading himself as a Brigadier General.
However, the investigation revealed that he had never at any time been enlisted into the Nigerian Army.
It was gathered that the suspect who was introduced to the businessman, Francis Obinna, by the Obinna’s friend, with the sole purpose to help him recover N77 million owed him by his customers.
He was said to have collected the N100 million in bits from the gullible businessman, claiming he wanted to use it to process some court documents, hire a lawyer that would help in handling the case.
Parading the suspects before journalists, Commissioner of Police in charge of the unit, CP Dan Okoro, said: ” The victim had supplied products to some of his clients worth N77million and it was difficult recovering the money.
“After several failed attempts over a period of time, a man who identified himself as a Brigadier-General in the Nigerian Army offered to assist him to recover the money.
“At a point, he told the businessman that he would also register him with big companies and ended up making various monetary demands until the victim could no longer bear the demand.
“We arrested the suspect and got a court remand order to detain him. We are investigating the matter and we have invited his wife as well as the woman who introduced him to the victim.
“His wife was invited because she’s a signatory to one of the accounts the victim paid the money into and also a director with the company has been invited.
“We have also written the Army and we have established that he is an impostor. We want to be sure that it is not a syndicate and also to establish if there are financial transactions from the accounts the victim paid money into, to the woman who linked them up. If there are, we will trace dates and investigate reasons.”
Explaining how he fell prey to the suspect, the victim said “I knew him as a Colonel. It was Madam Chika, my client that introduced him to me. Months after I knew him, he said he had been promoted to the rank of a Brig-Gen.
He even fixed one of my meetings with him at Bonny Camp but on the way there, he called and said he had a doctor’s appointment at Ikeja and that we should meet there instead.
” He later told me that as an Army officer, he won’t be able to help recover a loan for me but said he was also a lawyer and he would introduce me to a barrister friend that would assist.
“I did not suspect that he is fake because one of my hostile creditors who earlier threatened me with a gun when I went to demand my money started calling me to plead for a time after the ‘ General’ intervened. Other debtors were also pleading for a time because of him.
” Later, he told me he would give me links to be supplying all the Military Mess in Nigeria drinks. Some people dressed in military camouflage used to come and load drinks and they would give me a cheque. The whole thing was so real. He kept demanding money and I kept sending.
“The N100m I gave him was borrowed from the bank, I also sold my car, with the hope that he would help me retrieve the money owed me. Today I can’t pay my rent, I can’t pay my children school fees.
I never knew a 58-year- old man who is a Knight can do this to me. I made payments into Best Way Construction Company, Paulson Okechukwu Ogbonna, Icarl International Ventures, Peesab Energy Resources Limited, Lazarus Maduforu, Peesab International Investment Limited and other individuals at his instance”.
But the suspect denied defrauding the victim. Rather, he said he only collected the money to assist the victim to obtain a license as a contractor. He also denied parading himself as a General in the Army, saying people only address him as a Colonel.
He said ” I am not a serving Military man. I only work at the Ministry of Defence, Moloney Street, in the Department of Estate Management as a Senior Technical Officer”. I did not collect N100 million from him. I only collected about N11million”.
CP Okoro said that the suspect would be charged to court, warning that “those who engage in fraud-related activities must watch out. Those who hack accounts, intercept letters, emails from personal and corporate domains; those who are changing account numbers and addresses should stop forthwith or be arrested.
We have the wherewithal to trace and track persons who are into these criminalities.”
