Two suspected fraudsters who allegedly defrauded a foreign investor of the sum of $7.9 million have been arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
The fraudsters: Mr. Victor Uadiale and Captain Nnaji Everest, were arrested separately in connection to the scam. Uadiale, the principal suspect, is the arrow head of an international syndicate versed in defrauding international businessmen seeking investment opportunities in Nigeria.
He allegedly invited the investor, a businessman from the Middle East, to invest in the flourishing oil sector in Nigeria. Using a pseudo name: Victor Emeka, he made the investor to visit Nigeria and received him at the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja and thereafter flew him in a helicopter to a destination where he reportedly met a certain Mr. Grant, a member of the syndicate, who assured him of the credibility of the business arrangement.
Convinced that Uadiale was real and the business promising, the investor started paying money in foreign currency into Uadiale’s offshore accounts where they are laundered into various bank accounts around the globe. A sum of $1,292,000 was traced to a Barclay’s Bank (United Kingdom) account of Captain Nnaji Everest, a member of Uadiale’s syndicate.
The sum of N1,599,602.58; N1,241,039,00; 894.79 Pound Sterling and $275.30 were traced to Uadiale’s accounts with one of the new generation banks in Nigeria and another 391.93 Pound Sterling to another local bank.
In the course of investigation, Uadiale denied meeting or transacting any business with the foreign investor. He was however nailed by a business associate of the investor who identified him as the fraudster that duped the investor and led operatives of the EFCC to the private residence of Uadiale in Festac Town, Lagos.
Both Uadiale and Everest will soon be charged to court.