Two members of a syndicate that trades in bank accounts for criminal purposes, have been apprehended by the Counter Terrorism Unit of the Ondo state command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC.

The suspects, Maxwell Lakoju and Adejumo David, have reportedly confessed have been involved in buying and selling of bank accounts from unwary members of the public under various guises.

A spokesperson for the command, Daniel Aidamenbor, said in a statement issued in Akure, that the suspects were arrested
“for fraudulently obtaining account details for criminal use.

Aidamenbor in the statement said that “
Investigation activities began when one Mr Oluwole, a car dealer alleged that the sum of One Million, Five Hundred Thousand naira (N1,500,000) paid into his United Bank of Africa(UBA) account was stolen by cyber criminals overnight.

“A forensic analysis of the UBA statement of account of Mr Oluwole revealed a certain Palmpay account EL-SAEED YUSUF 9133771898 received a sum of N200,000 from the N1,500,000 stolen from the account of Mr Oluwole and the balance sum used for online purchases.

“Zenith bank account, SAMPSON ONYENEBE received the entire ₦200,000 from the Palmpay account of EL-SAEED YUSUF while another account, JOHN YOBG DADD 7025128574 at FIRSTMONIE equally received other sum from EL-SAEED YUSUF Palmpay account.

” Sampson Onyenebe who was arrested in Owerri, Imo state claimed that he met Maxwell Lakoju aka Ifa Dollar on Facebook in 2022 and they discussed and agreed on how Maxwell would assist him with metaphysical power for wealth.

“Among other requirements for the process, Sampson Onyenebe paid several thousands of naira through an account belonging to David Adejumo and he also handed over Automated Teller Machine (ATM) cards , Personal Identification Numbers (PINs) of about Eight (8) bank accounts belonging to himself and his wife to Maxwell.

“The arrest of David Adejumo led to the arrest of Maxwell Lakoju in Auchi, Edo State.

“Both suspects confessed to obtaining the bank accounts and its details including the ATM cards by courier from Sampson and his wife.

The spokesperson added that “Both suspects also confessed to have equally obtained and procured details of other bank accounts from other individuals and sold same to persons whom they claimed usually place regular demands for such.

He noted that “Investigation is still on going to determine the involvement of bank officials and Information Technology professionals in this new cybercrime activities.