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US-Based Nigerian Bags Lengthy Jail Term Over $9.5m Fraud

Published

2 years ago

October 4, 2022

Elvis Eghosa Ogiekpolor, a Nigerian living in Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America, has been sentenced to 25 years in prison by a district court for money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering on Monday.

According to the information made available on the website of the US Department of Justice, Ogiekpolor and other members of his syndicate, fraudulently opened about 50 business bank accounts and used them to collect over $9.5 million, being proceeds of business email compromise scams (BECs) and romance fraud, realised from several unsuspecting victims between 2018 and 2020.

The bank accounts were said to have been opened in Georgia in the names of numerous fake companies.

“Multiple romance fraud victims, mainly women, testified at trial. The victims recounted how they met male strangers online and were soon convinced they were in a romantic relationship with the men, even though the victims were in communication with the individuals for months without meeting in person,” a statement released by the department on the matter reads in part.

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“Often these men claimed they wanted to start a life with the victims and were eager to live with them as soon as some kind of issue was resolved. For example, one romance fraud victim was convinced to wire $32,000 to one of the accounts Ogiekpolor controlled because her “boyfriend” (one of the men online) claimed a part of his oil rig needed to be replaced but that his bank account was frozen.

“This victim borrowed against her retirement and savings to provide the funds, which ultimately required her to refinance her home to pay back the loan.

“Another victim testified that she was convinced to send nearly $70,000 because the man she met on eHarmony claimed to need money to promptly make payment on several invoices due to a frozen bank account.”

While delivering his judgment, William Ray II, the presiding judge, sentenced Ogiekpolor to 25 years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release.

The Nigerian was also said to have used eight people as “money mules” while perpetrating the fraud.

Five other ladies, identified as Ogiekpolor’s co-conspirators are Vere Whyte, Kutina Crawford, Ebony Parks, Tiffany Gaines and Tamara Gaines. They all pleaded guilty to charges bothering around fraud at separate hearings between November 2021 and July 2022.

The court will schedule another hearing to determine the amount of restitution that Ogiekpolor owes at a later date.

FIJ

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Fake doctor arrested in Lagos after performing surgery, practising for three years

Published

8 hours ago

May 7, 2024

Trends Admin

Lagos Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin

Fake doctor arrested in Lagos after performing surgery, practising for three years

Operatives of the Lagos State Police Command have arrested a fake medical doctor practising in the Ikorodu area of the state, with a forged certificate from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State.

According to a video by the TVC posted on Tuesday, the police said they discovered about 200 patient cards with the fake medical practitioner, Tayo Shakirudeeen, an indigene of Abeokuta, Ogun State.

Shakirudeen said he had treated malaria, typhoid, infections and performed operations on children suffering from appendix, after he learnt it where he worked as a Nursing Assistant at The Jones Hospital, Ojokoro along Ikorodu Road.

Asked how many years he had been treating patients with a fake certificate, he said three years claiming that it was his first time performing a proper surgery.

He also said it was a patient he treated that came with the policemen to arrest him, as he regretted his actions.

“I performed vital signs and abdominal scans. Then after confirmation, you do PCV (packed cell volume) and then you prepare the patient for the surgery. You clean the stomach with antiseptic Dettol with water. So after that, you give some anesthesia injection before starting the surgery,” Shakirudden said.

He used a surgical blade “to dissect the stomach, it’s appendix after opening the stomach then you cut the appendix after cutting the stomach then you suction the appendix then you suction the flesh fat and the skin then you pack it with gauze and apply plaster.”

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It was gathered that he only holds SSCE from Majidun Grammar School, as he said he was arrested, “after performing the surgery, the patient has been discharged home. So after like three months, the patient came with the police to arrest me.”

He said there were no complications after treating the patient so he did not know the reason why the patent came back with the police.

“I charged one hundred fifty thousand, and I have six workers. My hospital is located in Ikorodu. It’s a new site but somewhere close to Elepe Estate. I regret every bit of my action so I would never advise anyone or if there’s anyone that is still hiding somewhere and doing such a thing they should desist from it,” he added.

Shakirudeen’s hospital is Skyline Medical Centre and noted that he is a married man with three children

Speaking about the certificate the police found with him, he said, “It’s a forged certificate from Obafemi Awolowo MBBS, Medicine, and Surgery. Nobody taught me, but I used to help my boss when he was performing the surgery.”

“To dissect the stomach, it’s appendix after opening the stomach then you cut the appendix after cutting the stomach then you suction the appendix, then you suction the flesh fat and the skin then you pack it with gauze and apply plaster,” he added.

Fake doctor arrested in Lagos after performing surgery, practising for three years

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BREAKING: Police reportedly arrest Dunamis testifier, Anyim Vera

Published

8 hours ago

May 7, 2024

Trends Admin

Anyim Vera

BREAKING: Police reportedly arrest Dunamis testifier, Anyim Vera

Dunamis Testifier and a Bsc Law Celebrity, has been arrested and detained by the Nigeria Police Force for breaching etiquette.

Anyim Vera, who went viral recently after she was accused of giving false testimony in Dunamis church, has hinted at meeting singer Davido and comedian Sabinus over her self-acclaimed celebrity status.

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In a video that emerged online, Anyim, during her testimony in the church, said she graduated with a “Bsc in Law” from the National Open University of Nigeria.

She was however interrupted by Enenche who said she was lying. The pastor also questioned the credibility of the woman’s testimony while he chided her on how she spoke.

BREAKING: Police reportedly arrest Dunamis testifier, Anyim Vera

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Gunmen kidnap 13 persons in Abuja, demand N900m ransom

Published

9 hours ago

May 7, 2024

Trends Admin

FCT Police Command Spokesperson, SP Adeh Josephine

Gunmen kidnap 13 persons in Abuja, demand N900m ransom

Suspected gunmen raided Piko, a secluded town in Abuja’s Bwari area council, and kidnapped 13 people.

It was reported that the incident, which began at midnight on Sunday in the village, continued more than an hour without being challenged by either the vigilante group or other security forces.

According to a close community source, Chief John Jatau, the village’s Maidakin, has verified that 10 residents, including four nomadic Fulani herders, were kidnapped from his domain.

He noted that out of the four Fulani people, one escaped from the kidnappers’ custody.

While he said that the kidnappers had demanded a ransom of N900 million, he also gave the names of the kidnapped victims from his community.

According to him, the kidnap victims from the community that are still with their abductors are Nuhu Anyiwoyi, Emmanuel Nuhu, Danjuma Ali, Parisa Numa, Ezekiel Jatau, Shekwosa Ezekiel, Roseline Samuel, Salome Jacob, Abyelo Ezra, and Ezra Male.

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The source said, “The kidnapping incident occurred last night Sunday 05/05/2024, at about 11 pm. The kidnappers raided the village for about one hour without any response, or reaction from the community or outsiders, the major challenge the community faced last night in terms of communication to others was as a result of no telecommunication network in the village, so they picked people’s house to house, from the community they picked about 13 people, and later release three.

“The Madakin Piko informed me that they (gunmen) have called and they said they need the ramson of N900,000,000 (nine hundred million naira). They picked about four Fulani people and one of them is released.”

All possible efforts to reach the FCT Police Public Relations Officer, SP Josephine Adeh, proved abortive as she neither replied to messages nor picked up calls placed to her for clarification on the incident.