Olabanji Aluko, a man suspected of being a fraudster, was taken into custody by agents of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission's (EFCC) Lagos Zonal Command in connection with an alleged scam involving an advance fee of $17.5 million.
On September 8, 2022, Aluko, who said he worked as a driver, was taken into custody at a renowned café in Falomo, Ikoyi, Lagos. There, he had agreed to meet a petitioner named Col. Remi Abdulrahman Adeyemo (retd.).
Adeyemo said in his statement to the EFCC that he received a phone call from a man simply named as Ojo who stated that he knew him many years ago. Adeyemo claimed that Ojo made the allegation to him over the phone. According to him, Ojo said that his son had begun the process of getting a divorce in the United States of America, USA, and that he intended to sell his assets in order to prevent them from being awarded to his wife at the conclusion of the divorce.
He further alleged that Ojo had asked for his assistance in receiving the aforementioned sum, which was the proceeds from the sale of his son's properties in the United States. Ojo was said to have assured him that the money would be shipped from the United States through a company based in New York called Loomis International, and that he would receive a code in the mail that he would need to present before he could take possession of the aforementioned sum. He further alleged that Ojo had requested his
Adeyemo further stated that he had received a second call in which he was informed that in order to collect the money, he would be required to make a payment in the amount of $5,700, which would be the cost of the local handling costs. He went to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) with his suspicion that Ojo was involved in some kind of illegal activity.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) responded quickly to the intelligence and was able to secure the suspect's arrest just before he was ready to give the petitioner counterfeit notes to the amount of $17.5 million.
The suspect will be brought before the court for prosecution very soon.