By Hassan Zaggi
Operatives of the Nigeria Police Force have arrested three brothers for running a fake Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), Frank Mba’s Foundation bank account with FCMB.
The three suspects who were paraded together with 21 other cybercrime suspects are Emmanuel Ushie, 23 years; Henry Ushie, 30 years old and a graduate of Statistics from Anambra State University and Matthew Ushie, 28 years old and an OND graduate from Federal Polytechnic Oko.
While parading the suspects in Abuja, Monday, the Force Spokesman, Frank Mba, explained that: “The trio used a fake Facebook account and the fraudulently operated bank account to defraud innocent Nigerians of their hard earned monies under the pretext that the Foundation is raising money to help vulnerable Nigerians during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Investigations by the police operatives attached to the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) revealed that the brothers engage extensively and serially in such frauds and other related cybercrimes.
“During unrelenting manhunt of the fraudsters, Henry Ushie, 30 years, an elder sibling to Emmanuel Ushie, was identified as the gang leader of the syndicate behind the scam.
“He went underground as his younger siblings also involved in the crime were arrested.
“Following weeks of intense follow-up and meticulous investigations, the kingpin – Henry Ushie, was arrested at a hideout in Ihiala, Anambra State.
“His arrest eventually led to the arrest of his younger brother Mathew Ushie who is also an active member of the syndicate,” he said.
The Force Spokesman noted that further investigation revealed that Mathew Ushie had been arrested in Ghana last year in a well publicised bust of fraudsters where he and other international fraudsters used the name of the Inspector General of Police of Ghana, John Kudalor, to defraud unsuspecting Ghanaian policemen in the guise of providing opportunity for them to attend United Nations peacekeeping mission using a fake Facebook account.
Information about his arrest and parading before the press in Ghana is available on the internet.
Similarly, he said, “Henry Ushie had also been arrested in 2017 by the IRT for impersonating then ACP Abba Kyari, the Commander IRT on Facebook and defrauding many innocent Nigerians before he was arrested and subsequently charged to Court for impersonation. He eventually got bail from the court and went back to same crime.”
According to Mba, all the suspects will be charged to court at the conclusion of investigations.
Exhibits recovered from the suspects, he said, included 11 laptop computers, 37 mobile phones, 11 SIM cards of different telecoms networks, 5 International passports, 12 ATM cards, fake US dollar notes and quantities of dry leaves suspected to be Marijuana
