A man Gift Okechukwu Igwe has been arrested by the police for allegedly defrauding a female Point of Sales (POS) operator Chinwe Mathias of N21 million at a shopping mall in Owerri, Imo State Capital, while the suspect is also being investigated for organ trafficking.
Penpushing reports that the Force Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi who confirmed this added that the suspect had introduced him as “Dr Henry Ovie,” a neurologist newly transferred from Port Harcourt to Federal Medical Centre (FMC) in Owerri, Imo State.
The police spokesperson disclosed that the suspect’s arrest and subsequent parade by the police followed a report of the incident by the victim stating that the suspect is facing allegations of criminal conspiracy, organ trafficking, fraud, cybercrime, theft, impersonation, deceit, cheating and identity theft.
Penpushing further reports that Adejobi in the statement did not indicate when the suspect and victim first met, but said the suspect collected her number and established a close relationship with her after which the suspect informed her that he was expecting some money and would need to use her PoS to withdraw the money.
The statement added that the suspect subsequently transferred the sum of N5.5 million to Mathias’ bank account, which made her believe that he was genuine, and thereafter the suspect tricked the victim into entering a code on her PoS machine, on 11 September last year, which she did because she trusted him.
‘After the suspect left her place, she noticed that all the money in her PoS account was withdrawn, which amounted to the sum of N21 million and all efforts to reach out to the suspect proved abortive. She (victim) also went to FMC, where the suspect claimed to be working, to ask about him and she was told that none of their Doctors’ bears such a name’.
Penpushing also reports that Adejobi in the statement said some intelligent officers swung into action to arrest the suspect immediately after the victim reported the case to the Force Criminal Investigation Department in Abuja.
‘During the course of investigation, the officers discovered that the suspect had changed his phone number, relocated from Owerri to Lafia in Nasarawa State, where he rented and furnished an apartment, where he was later arrested after being tracked,” he said.
‘Further investigations revealed that the suspect goes by different names such as Igwe Richard, and Ovie Henry with multiple phone numbers and emails that he uses to perpetrate his heinous acts’, Adejobi stated.
Penpushing reports that the police spokesperson disclosed that investigation later revealed that the suspect’s identity was not documented in the database of the National Identity Management Commission.
The statement said the police equally discovered upon the arrest of the suspect that he was equally involved in organ trafficking and that he has a contact in Toronto, Canada with whom he engaged in the trade of human organs.
Penpushing further reports that Adejobi said the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, noted that the arrest underscores the commitment and dedication of the police to combating crimes in the country.
The statement added that Egbetokun said the arrest also underscores the commitment of the police to ensuring the safety and security of lives and properties in the country, and assured Nigerians that the police were currently investigating the incident and that anybody linked to the criminal act would be prosecuted accordingly.
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