A band of syndicate criminals who impersonated the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) through a financial scheme has been rounded up.
The syndicate group ran a scheme that was called the ‘CBN Helping Hands Investment Scheme’ that was used to defraud members of the public.
Lagos State and Edo Police Commands teamed up to arrest members of the group after a notice from the apex bank to the police.
The team lead Solomon Osiga Ezemede, who worked under the pseudonym Musa Mukarat and Solomon Musa, was caught alongside his other members in Edo State.
The CBN had notified the police that some agents had impersonated staff of the bank.
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How They Operated
They would invite members of the public to invest in a scheme created by the CBN while stating that the invested funds would be doubled in 24 hours.
Facebook was where the criminal group was most active.
They had testimonials to boost the investment scheme’s credibility, created fake profiles and mobile numbers for unsuspecting curious customers.
The police have taken the assets of the group in for forensic analysis by the cyber intelligence units of the Nigeria Police, as reported by Channels TV.
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Solomon Ezemede, the group’s head, has been remanded in prison on charges including obtaining money by false pretense, stealing, conspiracy, and fraudulent act.
The hearing of his case has been scheduled for March 3, 2021.
CBN’s Statement
Speaking on the matter, the Acting Director, Corporate Communications Department, Osita Nwanisobi, disclosed that the apex bank reached out to the police regarding the matter after the bank received streams of calls over the fraud that had been perpetrated.
Nwanisobi noted that the syndicate group had created logos, general signage, seal, and the brand of CBN to effectively defraud victims.
He cautioned that CBN would never use individuals to conduct any activity or schemes.
Nigerians were advised to take caution and report any suspecting case to the CBN.
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