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The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has smashed a syndicate that specialises in duping unsuspecting members of the public in Adamawa through offers of non-existing jobs and contracts.
            The commission’s spokesperson, Mrs Rasheedat Okoduwa made this known in a statement issued in Abuja on Thursday. The crackdown on the syndicate followed a report to the commission by the state’s immediate past Attorney-General, Bala Sanda. She said that two kingpins of the syndicate, Ahmed Dapellu and Chuks Arinze, were arrested in Yola and Abuja, respectively, while three other suspected members are still at large. Okoduwa said that the syndicate forged official documents of Ministries, Departments and Agencies in Adamawa, using same to defraud unsuspecting members of the public with bogus contracts and job offers. In the course of the investigation of the ex-AG’s report, ICPC officials conducted a search of Arinze’s home in Abuja and found incriminating contract documents that led him to confess to allegations of forgery and fraud. He confessed to having defrauded two contractors, Jimoh Momoh and Bonny Kalu, of a total sum of N4 million amongst others, and to forging the contract documents himself. In making his report to ICPC, the ex-AG had told the commission that the state government had received numerous complaints of the activities of the gang. He revealed further that the fraud was uncovered when Momoh and Kalu came to Adamawa State to verify the authenticity of the contracts offered to them by the gang.