Photo: EFCC arrest Kingpin of fraudsters in Ondo state

Find the EFCC press statement below...
A deadly syndicate of fraudsters who virtually opened an office for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in Akure, the Ondo State capital, from where they dispatch fake invitation letters to unsuspecting heads of government agencies purporting to be carrying out investigation activities against them, has been uncovered.
The kingpin of the syndicate, one Olubunmo Olalekan, who is currently in EFCC custody in Abuja, was arrested by operatives of the Department of State Service, DSS, and handed over to the Commission.
At the point of arrest, Olalekan who parades himself as a Principal Detective Superintendent of the EFCC, had in his possession fake letter head papers of the Commission, 30 GSM sim cards, assorted complimentary cards, a laptop computer and printer from where he churns out the fraudulent invitation letters.

His modus operandi is to send out the bulk invitation letters to as many agencies as possible, via courier, claiming to have pending petitions alleging corruption against their heads.

Investigations so far revealed that the suspect has written and distributed over sixty letters purportedly from the Commission to several top officials of ministries, department and agencies. Among them are the chairman, Oyo State Universal Basic Education Board, Ibadan; Managing Director, NPDC Limited, Sapele Road, Benin City; Professor Idowu Odeyemi, Provost Nigerian Institute of Mining and Geosciences, Jos; Managing Director/Chief Executive Office, Jebba Hydro Electric Plc, Jebba, Niger State; Medical Director, National Obstetric Fistula Centre, Abakaliki, Ebonyi State; Dr. Iyela Ajayi, Provost Federal College of Education, Okene, Kogi State and a host of others.

He would leave a GSM number in the letters asking the agency heads to contact a PDS Adeniyi. Those who fall for the scam are asked to pay money for the purported case against them to be dropped.
The syndicate had gone to the extent of issuing clearance letters to those that met their terms.
But some heads of agencies that are sure they had done nothing untoward to warrant investigation by the EFCC have been bold to contact the Commission, which was how Olalekan was nabbed.

Dr. Asunyikanmu Pius, director of Technical Aids Corps, Abuja was one of the agency heads targeted by the scammer. But once he received the invitation letter with instruction to contact a PDS Adeniyi, Dr. Pius alerted the Commission. He was encouraged to play along and consequently paid the sum of N2 million into an Access Bank Account as demanded by the suspect to throw the case. A sting operation was planned, but Olalekan was arrested by men of the DSS before he could draw the money.