Anti-Corruption Agency Nabs EFCC Employment Officer
Justice J.K. Omotosho of the Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State has remanded Bisong James Oyen, a fake employment officer of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, in prison custody.
Oyen was arraigned by the EFCC, Port Harcourt’s Zonal Office on Thursday, June 13, 2019 on a two-count charge bordering on forgery and obtaining money by false pretence contrary to Section 1 (2) (c) of the Miscellaneous Offences Act CAP M17 of the Revised Edition (Laws of the Federation of Nigeria) 2007, and punishable under Section 1 (2) of the same Act.
One of the count charges read: “That you, Bisong James Oyen, on or about 11th December, 2018 at Port Harcourt, Rivers State within the jurisdiction of this honourable Court did forge Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Appointment letter and delivered same to Talbort Young for employment with intent that it may be acted upon as genuine, a pretext which you knew to be false and thereby committed an offence contrary to section 1 (2) (c) of the Miscellaneous Offences Act CAP M17 of the Revised Edition (Laws of the Federation of Nigeria) 2007, and punishable under section 1 (2) of the same Act”.
He pleaded not guilty to the charges when read to him.
In view of his plea, Prosecution Counsel, Esin-Otu Ebipade urged the court to fix a date for the commencement of hearing. The defendant was not represented by any Counsel.
Justice Omotosho adjourned the matter to June 18, 2019 for hearing and ordered that the defendant be remanded in prison custody.
Oyen got into troubles when a petitioner alleged that, sometimes in April 2018, he logged into the EFCC’s web address, in a bid to apply for a job but could not get through the application. However, he allegedly received a call from one Alex (Kalu Patrick Ikechukwu), now at large, that he should send his document to an email address: [email protected] and pay some money into an account number of one of the new generation banks.
The petitioner allegedly got an assurance, after paying the money, that he would receive an Appointment Letter that would qualify him for training by the EFCC. After waiting for a while without any communication from the EFCC, he reported the matter for investigations and the results showed that Oyen was neither a bonafide employment officer of the EFCC nor authorized to receive any payment from any member of the public on behalf of the Commission.
In the same vein, Kelvin Ogbonna was arraigned before Justice J. K Omotosho on a two-count charge bordering on false pretences.
One of the count charges read: “That you, Kelvin Ogbonna on or about 12th February 2019, in Port Harcourt within the jurisdiction of this honourable court had in your possession (your email address: [email protected] and [email protected]) documents containing false pretence which you knew or ought to know contains false pretence and thereby committed an offence contrary to section 6 of the Advance Fee Fraud and other related offence Act 2006 and punishable under Section 1(3). He pleaded not guilty to the charges when read to him.
In view of his plea, Prosecuting Counsel, Esin-Otu Ebipade prayed the court to fix a date for commencement of trial. However, defense counsel, B. M Mgbamoka did not oppose the prayers of the prosecuting counsel nor sued for the bail of his client.
Justice Omotosho adjourned the matter to June 18, 2019 and ordered that the defendant be remanded in prison custody for commencement of trial.
Ogbonna’s troubles started when the EFCC acted on some intelligence concerning his alleged impersonation, possession of scam documents and internet fraud and arrested him accordingly. However, investigation showed that he was in possession of one apple iphone 6S and Hewlett Packard (HP) Pavilion Laptop, all of which contained false documents.
Upon interrogation, Ogbonna confessed that he was involved in internet fraud by using a fake FaceBook profile with the name Fredrick Keefer and Google hangout accounts with the usernames [email protected] and [email protected] to defraud his victims via scammed mails.
Tony Orilade
Ag. Head, Media & Publicity
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EFCC to Clampdown on Illegal Use of POS Machines
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, is set to start a clampdown on the fraudulent use of Point Of Sale, POS Machines in the country.
This was disclosed by the Makurdi Zonal Head of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Johnson Babalola, in an interactive session with Regional Bank Managers at the EFCC Zonal office in Makurdi, Benue State on June 13, 2019.
Speaking on behalf of the acting EFCC Chairman, Ibrahim Magu, he charged banks to ensure proper monitoring and strict compliance by those to whom they issue POS machines.
“We are having serious challenges with the banks giving POS machines to individuals with questionable characters and without proper documentation,” he said.
He pointed out that there was a need for some of the POS machines to be withdrawn from such individuals.
He also warned banks to adhere strictly to the Post-No-Debit (temporary freezing of account) order placed on banks found to be involved in suspicious transactions. “Default will not be tolerated,” he said.
He noted that it was unfortunate that some staff of banks were in the habit of giving prior notice to customers whose accounts were being placed on Post-No-Debit, thus “aiding and abetting crime and obstruction of justice, instead of assisting the Commission as stipulated by law”.
He further urged the banks to “respond on time to the letters of investigations sent to them by the Commission”, stressing that prompt response will help in speedy dispensation of cases.
“You need to always report any suspicious transactions as required by law,” he added.
Tony Orilade
Ag. Head, Media & Publicity
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EFCC Docks Surety for Forgery, Lying
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Kaduna Zonal Office on June 13, 2019 arraigned one Tijani Adamu before Justice Moh’d Tukur Muazu of the Kaduna State High Court on a seven-count charge bordering on forgery, uttering and giving false information.
Adamu wanted to stand surety for one Ibrahim Adamu, who was arrested for an alleged fraud, and who was to be granted bail pending the conclusion of investigations into the fraud.
He presented documents to the EFCC claiming to be as a staff of the Universal Basic Education Commission, UBEC.
However, when the documents he tendered were sent by the EFCC to UBEC for verification and to ascertain whether he was a staff of the UBEC, the feedback was that his appointment with UBEC was in fact terminated in 2004, and so was no longer in the employ of the UBEC. Subsequently, he was arrested.
He testified in his statement that he was approached by one Alhaji Shuaibu, a friend of his, to come and take Ibrahim Adamu on bail.
Under further interrogation, he confessed that the documents, which included a letter of introduction from UBEC as a level 16 officer of the Commission, alongside others required to stand in as surety, were forged for him by a friend of his.
One of the counts reads: “That you, Alhaji Tijjani Adamu, sometimes in January 2019 at Kaduna within the Judicial Division of this Honourable Court did pretend to be a Deputy Director, Internal Audit on Salary Grade Level 16/5 of the National Primary Education Commission/ Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) which you knew to be false and in that assumed character, stood as a surety to one Ibrahim Adamu in Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and you thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 96 of the Penal Code Law of Kaduna State 2017.”
He pleaded “not guilty” to the charges when they were read to him.
Prosecuting counsel, Y.J. Matiyak, urged the court to give a date for the commencement of trial, and to remand the defendant in prison, pending the trial date.
Defence counsel, A.M. Imam, however, moved the bail application of the defendant, but Matiyak, raised objections, arguing that the alleged offence bordered on felony and that he needed time to file a counter-affidavit in response to the bail application.
After listening to the arguments, Justice Muazu, ordered the defendant to be remanded in prison, and adjourned to July 3, 2019 for “hearing of bail application and commencement of trial”.
Tony Orilade
Ag. Head, Media & Publicity
