Man impersonates Buhari, dupes job seekers
As the Federal Government prepares to
make N500bn available for poverty alleviation, Nigerians have been urged
not to fall prey to groups which claim to be acting on behalf of the
Government only to dupe vulnerable citizens in the process.
The warning came just as the Independent
Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission arrested one
Umanah Umanah for allegedly duping several job seekers.
The ICPC said in a statement by the
Commissioner, Public Enlightenment, Mrs. Rasheedat Okoduwa, that the
suspect and members of his syndicate floated a loan scheme tagged,
“President Mohammadu Buhari Poverty Alleviation Programme.”
The commission said the fraudulent
scheme offered an unspecified number of unemployed Nigerians loans to
the tune of N1m on the condition that they pay between N5, 000 and N7,
000 for processing fees and a form.
The statement read in part, “We arrested
the ringleader of a fraudulent group that has been swindling
unsuspecting Nigerians of their money through a fraudulent loan scheme
tagged ‘President Mohammadu Buhari Poverty Alleviation Programme’.
“The scheme under the auspices of Magic
Project Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society offered to beneficiaries
interest-free and collateral-free loans up to the tune of N1m repayable
over a period of 10 years. The beneficiaries had the option of repaying
weekly N2, 100 or monthly N8, 400.
“However, to secure this loan, the
applicant had to pay for an application form and a processing fee of N7,
000 and N5, 000 respectively.
“Further investigations by ICPC revealed
that in spite of the fairly large number of applications over the
period of time the group had been operating, not one applicant had
received the loan.”
Investigations by the anti-graft agency
also indicated that the scheme under the parent name ‘No Burn Global
Limited’ was neither registered with any financial institution, the
Central Bank of Nigeria nor the Abuja Municipal Area Council and
therefore did not have appropriate authorisation to carry out investment
or financial services.
“It became obvious that Umanah and his
group’s hoodwinking of unsuspecting clients into paying the said sums
for the purpose of the supposed loan was the actual target of the whole
fraud scheme,” the statement added.
The suspect whose action violates and is
punishable under Section 25 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related
Offences Act, 2000 will be charged to court accordingly.
The ICPC warned members of the public to be wary of dubious individuals and groups.
It urged people to always conduct checks
with relevant authorities before committing their resources into
business deals that promise fantastic returns.
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