Friday, May 17, 2013

Prophetess arrested for N5m passport, land fraud

The Lagos State Police Command has arrested a prophetess, Annie Chukwurah, for allegedly defrauding a businessman, Charles Ikechukwu and his brother Sunday Ikechukwu, to the tune of N5,225,000.
PUNCH Metro learnt that the suspect allegedly collected money from Charles in order to acquire a Guyana Passport.
Charles said, “She (Chukwurah) used to pray for me before I left Nigeria for Switzerland. On getting to Switzerland, I knew I would soon be deported so I called her for prayers.
“She then said she could help me acquire a Guyana passport but I would need to pay N1,150,000 for the passport and ticket.
“She explained that with a Guyana passport, I would not need a visa to enter certain countries so I gave her the money.”
Charles said he also sent N3.5m to her to buy a piece of land for him but she embezzled the money.
According to police sources, the suspect also collected N1,355,000 from the victim’s brother in order to start a charcoal exportation business.
Sunday said, “She (Chukwurah) said there was a business opportunity in the United States which entailed the exportation of charcoal. I gave her over N1.3m but till now, she has not said anything meaningful about it.”
According to police sources, a Guyana passport was retrieved from the house of the suspect.
One of them said since Guyana had no embassy in Nigeria, it would be difficult to confirm if it was original or fake.
The suspect admitted she collected money from the brothers but said her intention was not to dupe them. Chukwurah added that she would pay the money back.
She said, “I am the General Overseer of Fire of Revival Ministries located in Ipaja. I have members and I am an honest person. I collected N950,000 for the passport because that is the real cost of acquiring a Guyana passport.
“The remaining money was invested in the charcoal business and if I’m given enough time, I will pay the money.”
PUNCH

No comments: