Mayaki Best, a 25-year-old student of the Ambrose Alli University (AAU), has been arrested by men of the Rapid Response Squad of the Lagos state police command for allegedly posing as a customs officer to defraud victims.
Best, a 300-level student of the institution located in Edo state, was arrested in Auchi, Edo state, according to a statement obtained by NAIJ.com from the RRS.
He was said to have been arrested for posing as an online customs auctioneer and cloning the website of Lagos State College of Health Technology as well as duping several admission seekers of large sums of money.
“Mayaki was tracked to Edo state following a petition signed by the provost of Lagos State College of Health Technology, Dr Moyo Kasim, on the fraudulent activities of one Dr Odeh Philip Oteche, who reportedly cloned the website of the institution and requested for varied sums of money from applicants,” the statement said.
The suspected fraudster. Credit: RRS
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It added that the petition was addressed to the commissioner of police in Lagos state and later referred to the commander of the Rapid Response Squad.
The complainant said the suspect also cloned the bank details stating that applicants pay N2,500 for admission form.
“Mayaki who was in possession of the phone line given in the fraudulent bank details was arrested with three ATM cards one of which carried Otache Philip Odeh, the owner of the fraudulent account.
“Two other ATM cards of Access bank and UBA bore, Abua Sunday.
“In his confession to the police, Mayaki stated that he was the brain behind the cloning of the institution’s website and he had withdrawn series of deposits made to the accounts by different applicants.
“He added that he veered into admission racketing when online custom auction of automobile and seized items failed to yield expected returns.
“Apart from these, the suspect disclosed that he also use local and international dating platforms for scamming.
“Through the cloned institution’s website, Mayaki stated, he had collected deposits ranging from N2,500 to N157,000, adding that one Charles and Ganiyu Balogun now at large were accomplices,” the statement read.
He also reportedly confessed that he opened Access Bank and UBA accounts with Sunday Abua for Nigerian Customs auction vehicles and goods.
Best allegedly disclosed that the three Facebook accounts of female custom officers he had been using and pictures of automobiles in display were sourced from Google.
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Different soft copies of unfilled custom papers were said to have been recovered from him.
Commenting on the development, the spokesperson of the Lagos state police command, ASP Olarinde Famous-Cole, stated that the command would not spare those who hide in other locations in the country and commit crime in Lagos.
According to Famous-Cole, the suspect has been transferred to the SCID for further investigation.
NAIJ.com earlier reported how the RRS recently arrested two money-doubling fraudsters who showed the police a trick they employed in duping their victims.
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