Police arrest suspected fraudsters who dupe Chinese contractor of N30m in Kaduna

The police have arrested members of a notorious syndicate who
specialised in impersonating governors and top politician to
defraud unsuspecting contractors in Kaduna State.

The fraudsters were said to have defrauded a Chinese contractor
of the sum of N30.6 million over a phony road project.

The suspects, Rita Waziri and Adamu Garuba, alias Hon. Ibrahim,
were arrested by personnel of the Inspector General of Police
Intelligence Response Team (IRT).

The suspects were arrested after they defrauded a Chinese
engineer identified simply as Su, of the sum of N30.6million under
the guise of helping him to procure a road construction contract
from the Kaduna State Government.

Su, who is based in Abuja, according to sources, was approached
in July 2018 by one Mayowa, a member of the syndicate who is
currently serving a jail term at the Kirikiri Maximum Prison, over
a separate fraud case, that the Kaduna State Government was
searching for contractors to rehabilitate a 14 kilometer Road in
Kagoro area of the state.

In a bid to convince Su, Mayowa, brought in Garuba, and
introduced him as ‘Honourable Ibrahim’, a serving member of the
Kaduna State House of Assembly and the Chairman of Budget and
Planning Committee of the House.

Garuba was said to have told Su, that he would have to register
his company with the Kaduna State Public Procurement Authority and
he would pay the sum of N1.6million for the processing.

After paying the money, the suspects invited Su to the Kaduna
State Government Secretariat, where they took him to a makeshift
office which had photographs of members of the syndicate as
representatives of the Kaduna State Government.

Rita was said to have presented herself as the Commissioner of
Works and Housing, while another member of the syndicate identified
as Captain, who is presently at large, presented posed as
Commissioner of Finance.

It was said that the sum of N28million was collected from Su,
following which they issued a fake contract awarding letter was
issued to him.

Su, however, demanded a refund of his money after he became
suspicious of the deal.

In order to cover their tracks, Garuba allegedly lured Su to an
undisclosed location in Kaduna, where he was kidnapped and a ransom
of N2 million was collected from him before he was freed.

IRT operatives stepped into the matter following a petition
received from Su, and Rita, who turned out to be Garuba’s
sister-in-law was apprehended leading to Garuba’s eventual
arrest.

Garuba,51, said he got the sum of N15million as his share which
he used in building a house in a choice area of Kaduna State.

He also disclosed that he gave the sum of N200,000 to Waziri as
her own share.

He said: “I went into fraud seven years ago and it was one late
Otunba Obanla from Lagos State, who introduced me to the business.
I met Otunba at a hotel in Kaduna, where he was drinking and we
became friends. He taught me how to defraud people looking for
contracts and my first job was in 2013, where I defrauded one
Alhaji Sani of the sum of N200,000.

‘’I took the money from Sani, under the guise of helping him to
process the registration of his company with the Kaduna State’s
Tender Board, where he intended to secure road contracts.

“In 2015, I defrauded one Alhaji Tijani, of the sum of N400,000,
who also wanted to get contracts from the Kaduna State Government.
I also defrauded a Lebanese national of the sum of N7 million who
but this time I wasn’t the only person that executed the job and I
got N1.5million as my share from the deal.

‘’I was later arrested by policemen from the Kaduna State Police
Command and after my release, policemen from the Federal
Anti-Robbery Squad, Adeniji Adele, Lagos State arrested me again
and I was made to repay the money I got from the deal to the
Lebanese man.

‘’In July 2018, Mayowa, brought the Chinese man’s job. He told
me that the man needed a road construction contract. We collected
the sum of N1.5 million from the man for the registration of his
company and then we took the man to Kaduna State Government House
and we used the reception of an office to execute the job.

‘’ Rita, who is my elder brother’s wife acted as the
Commissioner of Works and Mayowa enlarged Waziri’s picture and
placed it (on the wall) beside that of the Governor and the
President, making it look like the office of the Kaduna State
Government.

‘’There is a man called Captain,who played the role of the
Commissioner of Finance Kaduna State, while I acted as the
Honourable member of the Kaduna State House of Assembly, but Mayowa
was the facilitator.

‘’We told the Chinese national that the (state) governor wanted
him to rehabilitate a 14 kilometer road at Kagoro area of Southern
Kaduna, and he was to construct a seven kilometer road first, which
will cost N2 billion, and we told him that we were going to get
five per cent of the total cost as our share immediately he is
mobilized for the contract.

‘’We also showed him contract agreements between his company and
the Kaduna State Government, and he paid us the sum of N28 million.
He stopped paying us more money when he realized that he had been
defrauded.

“I got N15million as my share because I was the person that
organized the office that was used for the job and Mayowa got
N13million because he has other people including the Captain to
settle. I was the person that settled Waziri and I gave her N200,
000. I used the rest of my money to develop my landed properties in
G.R.A, Kaduna State.

‘’I also built a three bedroom flat in the same G.R.A. I want to
quit this business and I am ready to sell all my houses so that I
could raise money to pay back the money I took from the Chinese
man. I feel very ashamed of myself that I got myself into this mess
now that I have a grandson and I don’t want him to know that I am a
fraudster.”

Rita, a native of Kagoma area of Kaduna State, said she was
lured into the syndicate by her brother in-law(Garuba).

She said: “I am a trader and I sell white yam flour; I am
married with a 7-year-old child. I have only school certificate. I
have never done this before and it was my brother in-law that got
me involved into this business.

‘’My brother in-law is the younger brother to my husband and he
was the person that took me to where I snapped the picture at
Banawa shopping complex in Kaduna State.

‘’I was also present at the office where I introduced myself as
the Commissioner of Works and after we exchange pleasantries I told
them that I would not be staying around and I left in Garuba’s car
to my house.

‘’Later that day, Garuba gave me the sum of N200, 000 and he
didn’t tell me that the money was from the deal I did for him and I
thought the money was just a gift. I didn’t know that the Chinese
man was defrauded of the sum of N30.6million.”