A fake
Chief Superintendent of Customs (CSC), Ramoni Raji, has explained how he
milked unsuspecting Nigerians millions of naira in bogus customs
auction sales.
Raji, 63, alias Yakubu Lawal, who was arrested by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), said his victims included an assistant director of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).
The suspect was apprehended after the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr Kayode Aderanti, received a petition from one Mrs Uche, alleging that Raji swindled her of N800,000 posing as a Customs officer. She said the suspect promised to procure her Customs auction vehicles.
The suspect had once being arrested in 2013 for impersonation. But apparently he did not learn any lesson from that arrest. Immediately he was released, he went back to his old ways.
He said: “I have duped many people. In Ilorin, I promised to give about 600 bags of rice for N3.5 million to a victim, but I did not. “In Abuja, I did a scam of N4.2 million. I duped an assistant director, Operations, NAFDAC by promising a car I did not supply.
The director gave me N1.4 million.” Raji has three wives and nine children. He used to wear two different ranks.
The police said he used to go by the name Mr Shitu Musa whenever he wore the rank of a Chief Superintendent of Customs and Mr Yakubu Lawal Yoruba whenever he wore the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Customs. Raji was arrested on February 17 during an operation led by the Officer in Charge of SARS, Abba Kyari, a Superintendent of Police (SP).
The suspect was said to have mentioned Usman Ibrahim alias Galadima and others. They had since been arrested. The police said: “Raji used to tell his victims that he is the Customs officer in charge of auctioning.
He used to take his victims to Apapa Wharf and Tin Can Island Ports to show them goods and vehicles allegedly meant for auctioning. He and his gang duped Mrs Uche, a businesswoman of N800,000 with a promise to give her Toyota Highlander ‘Jeep’. The woman paid the money through the First Bank account of a member of the gang called Galadima.”
Raji said: “I’m not a Customs officer. I decided on my own to buy Customs uniform and use it for business. I bought the uniform at Customs Training School, Ikeja. I bought it from Customs’ tailor for N5,000 with all the kits. The tailor did not know I was a fraud.
I was once arrested by policemen at Zone II, Onikan in 2013 for a similar offence. I was released on bail on January 5, 2013. The police did not take me to court because court could not sit.”
He said he started working as a fraudster by first trying his hands in a business called ‘wash wash dollar.’ In the business, he and his gang would bring a pile of papers cut to dollar’s size and would promise a victim that would wash all the papers and turn them into dollars.
The suspect explained that he would tell the victim to bring N250,000, so the gang would wash it for him, to make it N1.2 million. Raji said he left the business after people stopped falling for the prank. He added: “When the business waned, I changed to fake Customs officer.”
Raji said that he used to frequent Customs’ restaurant at Ikeja, to portray that he was a genuine officer and to know how the officers carry out their work. “It was from there I learnt what Customs do.
I bought the DSC uniform and rank in 2013. I chose that rank because people show it a lot of respect.” The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Kenneth Nwosu, who confirmed the arrest, said Raji posed as a Customs officer, while Adekunle Thomas and Galadima used to pose as his aides.
Nwosu said: “Thomas used to pose as the suspect’s driver, while Galadima, whose name is Ibrahim, used to provide bank account where victims would lodge in money.”
Raji, 63, alias Yakubu Lawal, who was arrested by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), said his victims included an assistant director of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).
The suspect was apprehended after the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr Kayode Aderanti, received a petition from one Mrs Uche, alleging that Raji swindled her of N800,000 posing as a Customs officer. She said the suspect promised to procure her Customs auction vehicles.
The suspect had once being arrested in 2013 for impersonation. But apparently he did not learn any lesson from that arrest. Immediately he was released, he went back to his old ways.
He said: “I have duped many people. In Ilorin, I promised to give about 600 bags of rice for N3.5 million to a victim, but I did not. “In Abuja, I did a scam of N4.2 million. I duped an assistant director, Operations, NAFDAC by promising a car I did not supply.
The director gave me N1.4 million.” Raji has three wives and nine children. He used to wear two different ranks.
The police said he used to go by the name Mr Shitu Musa whenever he wore the rank of a Chief Superintendent of Customs and Mr Yakubu Lawal Yoruba whenever he wore the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Customs. Raji was arrested on February 17 during an operation led by the Officer in Charge of SARS, Abba Kyari, a Superintendent of Police (SP).
The suspect was said to have mentioned Usman Ibrahim alias Galadima and others. They had since been arrested. The police said: “Raji used to tell his victims that he is the Customs officer in charge of auctioning.
He used to take his victims to Apapa Wharf and Tin Can Island Ports to show them goods and vehicles allegedly meant for auctioning. He and his gang duped Mrs Uche, a businesswoman of N800,000 with a promise to give her Toyota Highlander ‘Jeep’. The woman paid the money through the First Bank account of a member of the gang called Galadima.”
Raji said: “I’m not a Customs officer. I decided on my own to buy Customs uniform and use it for business. I bought the uniform at Customs Training School, Ikeja. I bought it from Customs’ tailor for N5,000 with all the kits. The tailor did not know I was a fraud.
I was once arrested by policemen at Zone II, Onikan in 2013 for a similar offence. I was released on bail on January 5, 2013. The police did not take me to court because court could not sit.”
He said he started working as a fraudster by first trying his hands in a business called ‘wash wash dollar.’ In the business, he and his gang would bring a pile of papers cut to dollar’s size and would promise a victim that would wash all the papers and turn them into dollars.
The suspect explained that he would tell the victim to bring N250,000, so the gang would wash it for him, to make it N1.2 million. Raji said he left the business after people stopped falling for the prank. He added: “When the business waned, I changed to fake Customs officer.”
Raji said that he used to frequent Customs’ restaurant at Ikeja, to portray that he was a genuine officer and to know how the officers carry out their work. “It was from there I learnt what Customs do.
I bought the DSC uniform and rank in 2013. I chose that rank because people show it a lot of respect.” The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Kenneth Nwosu, who confirmed the arrest, said Raji posed as a Customs officer, while Adekunle Thomas and Galadima used to pose as his aides.
Nwosu said: “Thomas used to pose as the suspect’s driver, while Galadima, whose name is Ibrahim, used to provide bank account where victims would lodge in money.”
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