A gang of suspected fraudsters have been arrested for allegedly swindling victims in Ekiti State under the guise of facilitating overseas travels to Australia and Canada.
The alleged fraud, said to be in the realm of 300 million naira, was perpetrated under a fake arrangement of facilitating jobs in advance for applicants in the two countries upon a processing fee of 58,000 naira for an individual and 78,000 naira for a family.
Speaking to newsmen , one of the victims said the operators of the office in Ado Ekiti explained to them that a certain philanthropist with political ambition, Captain Kolapo Lawson Oturarebi, which later turned out to be a fictitious name, desired to help at least 2,000 people from Ekiti State travel abroad to make a better living.
He said the swindlers further claimed that the applicants will be given jobs according to their disciplines in the said countries, and will just make some affordable payments back to the company only after they have worked for two years.
The pseudo-Oturarebi was profiled as a retired aviation worker and the CEO of Vast Oturarebi Integrated Services ltd, a company with business registration number 1874974 confirmed on the website of Corporate Affairs Commission.
More than 4,000 applicants were said to have registered and paid the prescribed fees amounting to over 300 million naira.
The Police Public Relations Officer in the State, Sunday Abutu confirmed that the leader of the gang and some accomplices have been arrested after police burst into their office over a week ago.
He said they will be charged to court promising to provide more details later.
Meanwhile the process of refunding those duped is said to have commenced under the supervision of the police leadership in the state.
