Three defraud Delta community leader of N5.4m

The suspects. Credit: Delta State Police Command

The Delta State Police Command has arrested three men for allegedly defrauding a community leader of N5.475 million with a promise to secure his appointment as president-general of his community.

The suspects allegedly impersonated top government officials, including the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, and some Delta State Government officials, to convince the victim that they could facilitate the appointment.

The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, SP Bright Edafe, disclosed this in a statement issued on Tuesday, saying detectives attached to the Area Command, Effurun, arrested the suspects following an investigation.

The suspects were identified as Aghogho Okpogbodu, 51; Moses Exist, 48; and Benjamin Owah, 49.

According to the police, the suspects allegedly used SIM cards linked to the identities of prominent public officials and a caller-identification application to make their calls appear to come from the officials they impersonated.

The statement said, “In one of the cases, the suspects allegedly defrauded a community leader from Otu-Jeremi of the sum of ₦5,475,000 under the pretext of facilitating his appointment as President-General of his community.”

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A search of the suspects’ premises reportedly led to the recovery of seven mobile phones, 17 SIM cards, 12 ATM cards bearing different names, a Point-of-Sale terminal and documents containing financial and identification details belonging to various individuals.

The police said investigations were ongoing to identify other possible victims and accomplices.

The Commissioner of Police, CP Samuel Erale, warned members of the public against relying on caller-identification applications to verify the identities of callers, particularly when money or promises of government appointments were involved.

He urged anyone who might have fallen victim to the suspects or similar scams to provide credible information to assist the investigation.

The command reaffirmed its commitment to tackling fraud and bringing anyone found culpable to justice.