A 56-year-old man, one Felix Onyebuchi, who is in police net in Enugu for allegedly using fraudulent means to withdraw the sum of N11m from the account of a bank customer, has blamed “lack” for his venture into crime.
Onyebuchi, a native of Osa-Ukwu, in Obingwa Local Government Area of Abia State, but based in Lagos, was paraded alongside other criminals by the Enugu State Police Command.
Enugu State commissioner of police, Mr. NwodiboEkechukwu, disclosed that Onyebuchi was a member of a sophisticated syndicate that specialised in stealing and manipulating bank data.
According to the police chief, the syndicate usually applied to mobile telecommunication service
providers to ‘welcome-back’ registered phone numbers that belong to their potential victims.
In the process, according to Ekechukwu, they block the real account owners and, through the phone numbers, get access to sensitive personal information, including bank data.
Once they obtain the relevant bank data, members of the syndicate are able to make withdrawals from their victims’ bank accounts, the commissioner of police added.
Ekechukwu further explained that Onyebuchi’s arrest followed complaints made by a Port-Harcourt-based customer of an old generation bank, who notified the police of a series of unauthorised withdrawals from his account.
The victim, whose identity was not disclosed, had informed the police that the withdrawals were made from the Enugu branch of his bank, which was also not named.
The police commissioner added that, following investigations, Onyebuchi was arrested while he was attempting to withdraw N50m from another potential victim’s account.
Onyebuchi is currently in police custody, as further investigation into his activities, and that of his syndicate, continues.
However, in a short encounter with journalists when he was paraded, the suspect said he ventured into crime because of “lack.”
But journalists observed that he did not look like somebody who lacked money.
Reacting to the newsmen’s observations, the alleged fraudster asked, “How can you tell who is lacking money from physical appearance?
“It is the state of the pocket that determines whether one is lacking, or not,” he added.
Onyebuchi also claimed that he did not steal money from any bank customer.
According to him, he was only caught in the process of stealing.
“I was caught while attempting to take money from an account in UBA.
“I have not taken money from anybody, I was just about to take money when I was arrested,” he said.
Amaraizu said the suspect will be charged to court soon.