THIRTY-EIGHT-YEAR-OLD Adegboyega
Michael, the leader of the fraud syndicate
which was allegedly involved in the transfer
of money from bank customer’s account in a
first generation bank (name withheld)
through the connivance of a bank staff
member, has been arrested by the Lagos
State Police Command.


Michael (38) was arrested on August 26,
four months after the police had been
looking for him.
Crime Reports learnt that a female banker
(names withheld) whose password was used
to access a bank customer’s account details
lodged a complaint with the Lagos State
Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, that
she was falsely accused of fraud in her
office. The owner of the account who was
based in London had lodged a complaint with
the bank when he discovered that money in
his account had depleted.
The police commissioner reportedly
forwarded the petition to the Rapid
Response Squad on April 19 and by the
following day, four suspects were arrested.
Those nabbed included Ezurike Peter (35)
who was a staff member of the bank in
which the account of the victim was
domiciled, Ayo Olalekan (32), Ochenehi
Israel (31) and the gang leader’s wife. A
manhunt was also launched for the
syndicate leader, Michael.


The syndicate’s modus operandi, according
to police sources, was to increase the limit
of a bank customer’s account after Peter,
who was an insider, would have got the
customer’s details and phone number by
using his colleague’s password to access it.


The phone number of the account holder
would also be blocked temporarily from
receiving debit alert while the limit of his/
her financial transaction would be upped to
N200,000.


To achieve this, a syndicate member, Israel,
would go to the bank where the targeted
account was domiciled to fill a form to
increase the daily limit on the account.
He would not wait but would drop the form,
saying he would be back. Once the name
and phone number tallied, the bank would
act, not knowing that the account details
had been compromised by their staff.


To ensure that the owner of the account did
not suspect anything, the syndicate would
have held the line of the owner so that he or
she would not have network on his phone to
receive debit alert.

Israel was said to be very skilled in his role
and the members were getting N200,000
daily which was usually shared equally, with
each syndicate member getting N50,000.
They were said to have taken N600,000 from
an account in three days and N2 million from
another in 10 days.

Michael, also reportedly used his wife’s
account into which his own share was
transferred. The syndicate leader who had
been on the run was eventually arrested on
August 26 and transferred to the Special
Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Lagos State, for
further investigation.


In an interview with Crime Reports, Michael
confessed to committing the crime but gave
reason for his action.


According to the suspect, “it is true I was
arrested in connection with fraud. I joined
the syndicate after I was also defrauded to
the tune of N4.7 million.


Some people approached my auto shop and
said they wanted to buy a car. They paid me
with fake dollar notes. Later they told me
they were a syndicate and what they did
was a game.”


When asked whether he was collecting
dollars as payment for cars purchased from
him, Michael replied that he wanted to help
the ‘customers’ change the money to naira.


“I also got bank alerts that indicated
payment of cash into my account in addition
to the dollars. I believed that the transaction
was successful so I handed the car over to
them. It was when I got to the bank that I
was told that the dollar notes were
counterfeit.


“I had nothing again. Along the way, I saw a
friend called Harrison and he brought me
into the (fraud) business. He said that if I
would follow him, I would see how the
business was being done. We did the
business on mobile phones by transferring
money from an account in a bank to
another. It was usually achieved through an
insider, a friend of mine, Peter who worked
in that bank. I told him and he said we
should go ahead. I have now learnt my
lesson,” Michael spoke further.


When contacted, the police image maker in
Lagos State, SP Dolapo Badmus, confirmed
the arrest and said that the suspect would
be charged to court at the completion of
investigations.



http://www.praizeblog.com/2016/09/how-we-steal-money-from-people-s-bank.html?m=0


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