Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have apprehended a banker and three businessmen involved in a scheme to recycle and manipulate naira notes.
The suspects, identified as Kamaluddeen Lawal, Ismail Ilu, Lamido Bala, and Abba Mohammed, were arrested on Unity Road, Kantin Kwari Market, in Kano State.
READ ALSO: Police arrest mastermind behind General’s murder in Kano
According to a statement issued by Dele Oyewale, Head of Media and Publicity for the EFCC, the arrests were made following reliable intelligence on the suspects’ illegal activities. The EFCC’s Kano Directorate uncovered that the group was engaged in the fraudulent practice of manipulating mutilated naira notes.
“Ongoing investigations revealed that the suspects were obtaining mutilated naira notes from various banks,” Oyewale explained. “They used these notes to systematically remove a few from each bundle, which they then redeposited in their bank accounts. Their accomplice, the banker, would receive these altered amounts as though they were the original sum.”
The fraudulent scheme involved asking for specific denominations, such as N200 notes, removing a few from each bundle, and then redepositing them with the banker’s assistance. The banker, in turn, would process the transactions without verifying the amounts, facilitating the scheme.
At the time of their arrest, the EFCC had recovered a total of N7.5 million from the suspects. The EFCC has stated that the suspects will face charges in court once investigations are completed.
NSCDC arrests members of syndicates ‘producing counterfeit dollars, new naira notes’
Recall that Daily News 24 reported how the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) said it arrested members of two syndicate groups allegedly involved in the production and distribution of counterfeit United States dollars (USD) and new naira notes.
During an interview with the NAN in Abuja, Olusola Odumosu, NSCDC’s public relations director, said the suspects were arrested in Plateau State between February 22 and March 8.
Odumosu said members of one of the groups, consisting of four men, were arrested in possession of fake 64,800 dollars and N475,000.
He also said the counterfeit notes worth N1.5 million were seized from the second group of five men.
“From the seized N1.5 million, N784,500 were counterfeit new naira notes, while N49,650 were old naira notes,” he said.
He said members of the first group were apprehended following an intelligence report that they were on their way to deliver the fake notes to a client in Nasarawa State.
