A 29 year-old warder with the old Abeokuta Prisons, Ibara, Abeokuta,
Ogun State, Joseph Emmanuel is presently in the custody of the Economic
and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, for allegedly assisting a prison
inmate in carrying out fraudulent financial transactions, as well as
using the name and documents of an illiterate taxi driver, to open a
First Bank account for the inmate.
The suspect allegedly assisted the inmate whom he called ‘Ora’ to open the account,
using the name of one taxi driver in his neighbourhood called Monsuru
Ogunsina Adeogun". He took the step after he rejected the entreaties of
the inmate to avail him of his account number.
Having made a promise to help the inmate with an account number, Emmanuel threw caution and his work ethics to the wind and went ahead to open an account, in the name of Adeogun, a father of four.
Investigations showed that, after filling out the account
opening documents and observing all account opening formalities
Emmanuel received the withdrawal booklet and an ATM card to the account.
He handed the withdrawal booklet to Adeogun and according to him, “I
took the ATM card to Ora (the inmate) and I helped him make three
withdrawals from the account, until the fourth time when the ATM machine
rejected the card and I called Adeogun to bring the withdrawal booklet,
and it was that Tuesday (March 5, 2014) that Adeogun was arrested at
the bank and I came down to EFCC to see him the following day and I was
also detained for my involvement”.
During investigation, it was gathered that the same inmate had
previously convinced one Ogunnariwo Mary, a student of Tai Solarin
University of Education, Ijebu Ode, to help him open an account with her name.
According to Mary, “I went to the Abeokuta prisons to seek for an
Industrial Attachment placement, but was told that I have to go to the
Head Office, but before I could leave, an inmate who introduced himself
as ‘Timilehin’ approached me and pleaded with me to help him open an
account for him with my name so that I can help him withdraw money
whenever his family pays in money into the account”.
She said she went ahead to open the account in her name, and helped the
inmate to make several withdrawals, which were always collected by
different men who managed to show up each time she got a call from the
inmate to go and make a withdrawal.
This, she said, happened between December 2013 and March 5, 2014, when
she was also arrested because the ATM machine rejected the card and she
went into the banking hall to lodge a complaint and to make the
withdrawal with a withdrawal slip.
Both Adeogun and Mary Ogunnariwo were arrested the same day and at the same bank and brought to the office of the EFCC together.
The suspects will be charged to court as soon as investigations are concluded.
Wilson Uwujaren
Head, Media & Publicity
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