The Ibadan, Oyo State zonal office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has apprehended one Ayodele Saheed Olaniyi, for defrauding unsuspecting investors in a phoney N343.9 million investment scam.
Mr Olaniyi’s arrest followed a petition to the EFCC in February, which was investigated by its operatives.
The petition had alleged that Mr Olaniyi duped 89 persons collecting money from them at various times amounting to N343.9 million.
Mr Olaniyi was said to have persuaded his victims into investing in a network structure called “Beerbanc Traders’ Network”, in which the participants would pool resources together to establish a beer retailing business.
The proceed was expected to be shared every month among the investors and the purported coordinating company.
But rather than bring succour, Mr Olaniyi accentuated their frustration as they neither received a dime as profit on their investment since October 2018, nor did they get their invested money back.
Investigations into the petition revealed that the suspect was operating eight different accounts through which he enlisted 114 people into the phoney scheme. The anti-graft agency claimed it was also established that a sum of N396.5 million found in the accounts were never invested in any business.
According to the EFCC, it was also established that the company under which Mr Olaniyi was operating the business was not registered with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as a financial institution.
After taking his statement and conducting a search on his house and business address at Oluyole, Ibadan, he was granted administrative bail; he was however, unable to meet the terms.
However, having realised that it was game up, and that there was likelihood of him facing the consequence of his actions, Mr Olaniyi tried playing a smart one on the commission, as he feigned illness.
He claimed to be suffering from Hepatitis B in a bid to secure his release on health ground.
However, a medical laboratory test conducted on him established that he was not infected as he claimed.
The EFCC said it would soon charge the suspect to court.
