EFCC investigates convicted fraudster who masterminded $1m from Kirikiri prison
There seems to be a new twist to how fraud is being
perpetrated in Nigeria as a convicted internet fraudster, Hope Olusegun
Aroke, who is serving a 24-year jail term at the Kirikiri maximum prison
in Lagos, has been accused of masterminding a fresh mega scam to the
tune of over $1million.
According to reports that Aroke is
now being investigated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
(EFCC). Legit.ng gathered that Aroke allegedly pulled the heist right
from prison using a network of accomplices, who are targets of fraud and
money laundering investigation. It was learnt that the lid was blown
off his latest fraud exploits from the bowels of the maximum
correctional centre following intelligence received by the EFCC.
According to the report, the immediate riddle that confronted the EFCC
was how it was possible for the convict to continue to ply his ignoble
trade of internet fraud from prison. Preliminary investigation revealed
that the convict, against established standard practice, had access to
internet and mobile phone in the correctional centre, where he is
supposed to be serving his jail term. It was also gathered that Aroke
got himself admitted to the Nigeria police hospital, Falomo, Lagos for
an undisclosed ailment, adding that from the hospital, he would move out
to lodge in hotels, meet with his wife and two children and attend
other social functions.
The EFCC is currently
investigating the circumstance of Aroke's admission into the hospital
and those who aided his movement from the hospital to hotels and other
social engagements. According to the online news medium, the
investigation revealed that Aroke used a fictitious name, Akinwunmi
Sorinmade, to open two accounts with two new generation banks. He was
also said to have bought a property at Fountain Spring Estate, Lekki
Lagos in 2018 for N22 million and a Lexus RX 350 2018 model registered
in his wife’s name, Maria Aroke. The convict was also in possession of
his wife’s bank account token in prison, which he used to freely
transfer funds. Further investigation revealed that, while his trial was
ongoing in 2015, Aroke bought a four-bedroom duplex at plot 12, Deji
Fadoju street, Megamounds estate Lekki County Homes, Lekki, for N48
million. It would be recalled that Aroke was one of two Malaysia-based
Nigerian undergraduate fraudsters arrested by the EFCC in 2012 at the
1004 Housing estate, Victoria Island, Lagos following a tip-off. He had
claimed to be a student of Computer Science at the Kuala Lumpur
Metropolitan University, Malaysia. But the commission’s investigation
fingered him as the arrowhead of an intricate web of internet fraud
scheme that traverses two continents. After his arrest, a search
conducted by EFCC operatives on his apartment led to the recovery of
several items such as laptops, iPad, travelling documents, cheque books,
flash drives, internet modem, and three exotic cars – a Mercedes Benz
jeep, one 4Matic Mercedes Benz car and a Range Rover Sport SUV. He was
eventually convicted by Justice Lateefa Okunnu of a Lagos state high
court on two counts of obtaining money by false pretence, cheque
cloning, wire transfer and forgery. He was sentenced to twelve years
imprisonment on each of the two counts.