EFCC investigates man accused of defrauding BDC operators of $12,000

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Enugu Zonal Directorate, has opened an investigation into a 38-year-old man, Raheem Abiodun Wasiu, over an alleged $12,000 fraud involving Bureau De Change (BDC) operators.

According to the EFCC, Wasiu allegedly defrauded BDC operators by presenting himself as a wealthy contractor and using fake bank alerts to convince victims that payments had been made after collecting foreign currency from them.

The suspect was arrested by operatives of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) following a complaint from Ezekulie Stanley Chukwuamuanya, a BDC operator who alleged that Wasiu obtained $5,000 from him through the scheme.

Preliminary findings by the EFCC indicated that Wasiu allegedly hired Toyota Hilux vehicles, moved around with escorts and posed as a wealthy contractor while meeting BDC operators across parts of the South-East.

The commission alleged that after collecting foreign currency from his victims, he would show them fake naira transaction alerts, making them believe that payment had been transferred into their accounts.

Chukwuamuanya recounted how he allegedly fell victim to the scheme.

“I gave him the dollar, and he counted it by himself. After confirmation, he then asked for my bank details. After giving him my account number, he mentioned my name that popped up on his bank application; I confirmed it. The next thing he told me was that it had gone through, which I waited for the alert to come, to no avail. Because of time, he asked me to go and that I would get it, that it could be network issues, and I left because of his personality,” he said.

He alleged that Wasiu later became unreachable.

Another petitioner, Chief Nwaoha Ubaferem, a resident of Owerri, Imo State, accused the suspect of allegedly defrauding him of $7,000 using a similar method.

“The dollar on me was $2,600, then I called my office to bring an additional $4,400 to me to complete it, as he requested $7,000. As we were waiting, he complained that he was running late, and we decided to move to Royce Road from Port Harcourt Road, where he finally collected the money from me, resumed the transfer, called my name and informed me that the transfer had gone, which I believed but continued to expect an alert from him,” Ubaferem said.

The EFCC said its investigation further established that Wasiu had allegedly travelled to different locations across the South-East and Akwa Ibom State, where he reportedly used the same method to target BDC operators.

Among the items recovered from him were a Toyota Hilux with registration number KTR 379 AA, Akwa Ibom, several bank ATM cards, bank transfer tokens and a digital National Identification Number slip bearing the name Sunday Abiodun.

Investigators also recovered two complimentary cards bearing the name Engineer Abiodun, an Emporio Armani bag, an iPhone 17 Pro Max, a Samsung phone, a 4G pocket Wi-Fi device, a Patek Philippe wristwatch, vehicle documents, a gold bangle and a pair of Alexander McQueen shoes.

The EFCC said the suspect would be prosecuted after investigations into the allegations are concluded.