Man Impersonates Buhari, Dupes Job Seekers

As the Federal Government
prepares to make N500bn available
for poverty alleviation, Nigerians
have been urged not to fall prey to
groups which claim to be acting on
behalf of the Government only to
dupe vulnerable citizens in the
process.
The warning came just as the
Independent Corrupt Practices and
Other Related Offences Commission
arrested one Umanah Umanah for
allegedly duping several job
seekers.
The ICPC said in a statement by the
Commissioner, Public
Enlightenment, Mrs. Rasheedat
Okoduwa, that the suspect and
members of his syndicate floated a
loan scheme tagged, “President
Mohammadu Buhari Poverty
Alleviation Programme.”
The commission said the fraudulent
scheme offered an unspecified
number of unemployed Nigerians
loans to the tune of N1m on the
condition that they pay between
N5, 000 and N7, 000 for processing
fees and a form.
The statement read in part, “We
arrested the ringleader of a
fraudulent group that has been
swindling unsuspecting Nigerians
of their money through a
fraudulent loan scheme tagged
‘President Mohammadu Buhari
Poverty Alleviation Programme’.
“The scheme under the auspices of
Magic Project Multi-Purpose
Cooperative Society offered to
beneficiaries interest-free and
collateral-free loans up to the tune
of N1m repayable over a period of
10 years.
The beneficiaries had the option of
repaying weekly N2, 100 or
monthly N8, 400.
“However, to secure this loan, the
applicant had to pay for an
application form and a processing
fee of N7, 000 and N5, 000
respectively.
“Further investigations by ICPC
revealed that in spite of the fairly
large number of applications over
the period of time the group had
been operating, not one applicant
had received the loan.”
Investigations by the anti-graft
agency also indicated that the
scheme under the parent name ‘No
Burn Global Limited’ was neither
registered with any financial
institution, the Central Bank of
Nigeria nor the Abuja Municipal
Area Council and therefore did not
have appropriate authorisation to
carry out investment or financial
services.
“It became obvious that Umanah
and his group’s hoodwinking of
unsuspecting clients into paying the
said sums for the purpose of the
supposed loan was the actual target
of the whole fraud scheme,” the
statement added.
The suspect whose action violates
and is punishable under Section 25
of the Corrupt Practices and Other
Related Offences Act, 2000 will be
charged to court accordingly.
The ICPC warned members of the
public to be wary of dubious
individuals and groups.
It urged people to always conduct
checks with relevant authorities
before committing their resources
into business deals that promise
fantastic returns.