The Police Special Fraud Unit has announced the arrest of a kingpin of a syndicate, which specialises in defrauding prospective land owners.
Commissioner of Police, Moses Saba gave the name of the arrested kingpin as Moses Taiwo-Olalekan.
Saba said Taiwo-Olalekan with other members of the syndicate duped some persons of millions of naira under the pretence of selling some lands to them.
He said the syndicate usually forged Certificate of Occupancy with which they lured prospective land buyers to part with their money.
Saba said Taiwo-Olalekan and others now at large, allegedly defrauded some persons of over N50 million between January, 2009 and June, 2010.
He said their victims had petitioned the SFU over the activities of the suspected fraudsters which led to police investigation.
According to him, prior to his arrest, Taiwo-Olalekan’s name had featured prominently in other cases in various sections of the Unit, one of which he was identified as Barrister Olatunji.
Saba said in that case, the suspect and others now at large, allegedly defrauded a victim of N20 million for the sale of a property at Magodo GRA in Lagos.
According to the Commissioner, Taiwo-Olalekan told the unit that the syndicate usually obtained photocopies of C of O from one Idowu Salami, a former employee of the Lagos State Land Registry.
He said another case involving the suspect was a case of forging of C of O of a property in Lekki, Lagos, an international passport and a PHCN bill of the land owner.
Saba said the syndicate used the items to impersonate the owner and defrauded their victim of N25 million.
Other cases involving the suspect, according to Saba, include a N5 million Lekki Phase 11 property case and another of an unregistered vehicle.
The Commissioner advised members of the public to always seek advice from appropriate authorities before paying for any property.
No comments:
Post a Comment