A suspected fraudster, Ismaila Adamu, got more than he bargained for recently when he was arrested by the police for buying $2,500 from a bureau-de-change operator at Alaba International Market, Lagos.
City Round learnt that 23-year-old Adamu, who lives in the Iyana Ipaja area of the state, had gone to buy the hard currency from one Abdulkareem Goje on Thursday, July 25, 2019.
After agreeing to get the $2,500 for N897,000, he reportedly collected Goje’s account number and sent it to his accomplice, who is still at large.
Some minutes afterwards, Goje received a credit alert of N897,000 on his mobile as payment for the $2,500.
It was gathered that as Goje was arranging the money, Adamu hurried him up and he (Goje) became suspicious.
He was said to have insisted on verifying the payment at a nearest bank – a move that did not go down well with Adamu.
A trader at the market, Godwin Chukwu, who witnessed the incident, told City Round that Adamu attempted to run away when he realised that his game was up.
Chukwu said, “A man, who later identified himself as Ismaila Adamu, came to buy dollars that day from a bureau-de-change operator called Goje, close to my shop. He sent N897,000 into the Goje’s account through somebody and he was in a hurry to collect the dollars and leave. Goje noticed his countenance and became suspicious. He asked Adamu to allow him to check his account balance at a nearest bank before he could release the dollar.
“Adamu was not comfortable with the request and tried to assure Goje that the money was in his account, but he insisted on checking his account balance. At that point, Adamu wanted to run away, but people held him back. Goje quickly went to the bank and discovered that his account was not credited. Adamu started begging. He said it was his boss at Ikeja who sent him to carry out the fraud. We alerted the police at the Ojo division and handed him over to them.”
The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, DSP Bala Elkana, confirmed Adamu’s arrest to City Round.
Elkana said Adamu confessed to have defrauded some people in connivance with his boss, one Sani, who operates at the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Ikeja.
He said, “The suspect went to buy $2,500 and claimed that he could not transfer the N897,000 equivalent at once. He made a phone call to his boss to transfer the money to the complainant’s account.
“Subsequently, the complainant received an alert of N897,000 and the suspect started pressuring him to release the dollar equivalent. But the complainant insisted on making a confirmation from his bank. The bank confirmed that it was a fake alert and that no money was transferred into the account. The suspect was arrested immediately.”
Elkana stated that Adamu had been charged with fraud, adding that the police had launched a manhunt for the suspect’s accomplice.
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