Police detain two men over alleged N613 million fraud

The Police Special Fraud Unit (PSFU) in Lagos State has detained for interrogation two suspects, Ikeocha Daniel, 34, and Sylvester Ebeta, 33, over alleged N613 million fraud.

PSFU’s Spokesperson, SP Eyitayo Johnson, confirmed their detention in a statement on Saturday in Lagos.

“The suspects were arrested for alleged offences bordering on conspiracy, fraudulent conversion/diversion and stealing of N613,980,200 belonging to a leading Nigerian Financial Technology (FinTech) company.

“The alleged offences, which occurred between Jan. 19, 2022 and Oct. 12,2023, was due to a system/network glitch that led to some Payment Gateway Web Merchants of the firm getting multiple credits for refunds initiated to cardholders.

“These refunds were then settled to the merchants’ accounts in various banks and subsequently withdrawn/transferred by the merchants,” he said.

Johnson said, “Daniel unlawfully benefited and converted N402,980,200, while Ebeta fraudulently converted/ diverted N211,000,000.”

According to him, the duo took advantage of the glitch to make multiple withdrawals totaling the aforesaid sums, and distributed same to themselves in other banks, friends and relations.

He alleged that the suspects disabled their mobile lines and relocated from their known addresses to evade arrest.

“But they were later tracked and arrested by PSFU detectives,” he said.

According to the image maker, the suspects have confessional statements where they admitted their roles in the crime.

Johnson said criminal charges had been filed against the suspects by the unit’s legal section