The Zone 2 Police Command in Lagos State has arrested two alleged international fraudsters, Elvis, 23, and Kelly, 24, for specialising in forging foreign institution certificates in Nigeria and Ghana.
The Assistant Inspector General (AIG) in charge of the Zone 2 Police Command, Adegoke Fayaode, who confirmed the arrest to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), disclosed that the suspects attempted to bribe the police with N66 million in exchange for their release, but the offer was rejected.
Fayaode revealed that the suspects paid the N66 million, which was collected by the detectives and retained as exhibit.
He also stated that this was not the first time Zone-2 operatives had turned down a bribe, noting that they had rejected an even larger bribe of N174 million from a different suspect in November.
The suspects were arrested after detectives at the Anti-Corruption Unit received credible information from Nigerians in the diaspora about a group of individuals specialising in the forgery of foreign certificates.
Fayaode, in response, instructed his team to investigate and apprehend the suspects.
The detectives traced the suspects to a five-star hotel in Osapa-London, Lekki, where they were arrested at a bus stop while attempting to escape.
The AIG explained that Elvis and Kelly were involved in forging certificates from various international institutions, including African universities, and defrauding unsuspecting victims online. They also used the proceeds from their fraudulent activities to acquire exotic cars and build mansions across the country.
The police recovered several forged documents, including a certificate from Blue Crest College in Ghana, a student identity card from Academic City College, and a transcript of an academic record from Blue Crest University.
Elvis and Kelly later confessed to purchasing the forged documents through the help of a Nigerian woman residing in Ghana.
They revealed that their motive for acquiring the forged documents was to obtain Ghanaian residency permits, which they used to pose as students at Academic City University, admitting that they had never been admitted to the institution.
They also paid a total of 26,000 Ghana Cedis for the documents, claiming they needed them to avoid arrest in Ghana, as they had no legitimate means of livelihood.
Fayaode also revealed that the suspects were involved in an online romance scam and provided foreign bank accounts for fraudulent transactions, a practice they referred to as “Facebook bombing.”
They impersonated an American soldier named Captain Donald Rowe, claiming to be serving in Syria, to deceive and defraud innocent individuals on Instagram.
The Nigerian Police have reached out to the Ghanaian Embassy to gather more information about the suspects’ operations and their foreign accomplices.
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