Operatives of the Nigeria Police Force have arrested three brothers among 24 suspects including one female for cybercrime and other related offences.
Their offences include: involvement and indictment in cases of romance and online dating scams, generating and deploying fake bank alerts, hacking and fraudulent wire transfers, cyber stalking and impersonation of high-profile personalities in Nigeria and across the world.
The three brothers arrested are: the kingpin, Henry Ushie, age 30 and graduate of Statistics from Anambra State University; Matthew Ushie, age 28 and OND holder from Federal Polytechnic Oko; and Emmanuel Ushie, 23. They were nabbed for running a fake Frank Mba Foundation bank account with FCMB.
The trio were said to have used a fake Facebook account and the fraudulently operated bank account to defraud innocent Nigerians of their hard earned money under the pretext that the Foundation is raising money to help vulnerable Nigerians during the Covid-19 pandemic.
During an unrelenting manhunt of the fraudsters, the police said Henry was identified as the gang leader of the syndicate behind the scam. “He went underground as his younger siblings also involved in the crime were arrested”.
Following weeks of intense follow-up and meticulous investigations, the kingpin – Henry was arrested on Thursday July 11 this year at 12:55pm at his hideout in Ihiala, Anambra State.
His arrest eventually led to the arrest of his younger brother Mathew who is also an active member of the syndicate.
Further investigation reveal that Mathew was arrested in Ghana last year in a well-publicised bust of fraudsters where he and other international fraudsters used the name of the Inspector General of Police of Ghana, John Kudalor, to defraud unsuspecting Ghanaian policemen in the guise of providing opportunity for them to attend United Nations peacekeeping mission using a fake Facebook account.
Information about his arrest and parading before the press in Ghana is available on the internet.
“Henry had also been arrested in 2017 by the IRT for impersonating ACP Abba Kyari, the Commander IRT on Facebook and defrauding many innocent Nigerians before he was arrested and subsequently charged to court for impersonation.
“He eventually got bail from the court and went back to same crime,” the police noted.
Meanwhile, exhibits recovered from the 24 suspects include: 11 laptop computers, 37 mobile phones, 11 SIM cards of different telecoms networks, five e-passports, 12 ATM cards, fake US dollar notes, quantities of dry leaves suspected to be Marijuana.
Investigations by the police operatives attached to the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) reveal that the brothers engage extensively and serially in such frauds and other related cybercrimes.
The police further assured the public that the suspects would be charged to court at the conclusion of investigations.
