How I duped Lekki house owners, says Accountant

….who abandons audit firm for crime

Operatives of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS), Ikeja, Lagos State Police Command, have arrested an accountant, Mr. Olaitan Shofolahan, who abandoned an audit firm job for crime.

Shofolahan, 37, explained that the audit firm, located at Yaba area of the metropolis, belonged to his brother. He said his monthly take home pay was N45, 000, which couldn’t meet up with his needs.

He was arrested on Thursday at Lekki Phase 1, in Eti-Osa area for impersonating officials of the Lagos State Land Use Charge.

Recovered from his possession after his arrest were five land use bills with varied charges above N1 million and a forged identity card of The Lagos State Government.

He was while attempting to defraud a resident of the posh estate of several millions Land Use Charge dues, when police surprised him by walking into the compound. He was arrested. The suspect told police after his arrest that he embraced crime because of unemployment.

He said: “I was working with my brother in his audit firm in Sabo, Yaba, earning N45, 000 monthly salary before I left the firm in search of another employment. I was at Lagos State Civil Service Commission several times to seek employment. It was during one of my visits that I learnt that payment for Land Use Charge in the state is through a code. The code is engraved on every metal sticker issued to every house. It is with this code that you get an annual bill of the house and that you can get your charges printed out for you free with the bills. That was how I started moving round choice location to get their code and print their bills. Any house that does not owe, I discard but those with huge bills, I work on them. But I noticed that some of them requested for my ID-card. I forged a Lagos State Government identity card using a sample that I saw somewhere in Alausa Secretariat, Ikeja.”

He added: “I have being in the business since February, 2015. I have observed that owners of buildings in Lekki have capacity to settle their bills quickly, that was why I have focused there. Unfortunately for me, it was this location that I was caught. I entered the building in Lekki Phase 1, unknown to me that the officials of the Lagos State Land Use Charge were there with the house owner. I saw the owner discussing with them, but I didn’t know their identity. The owner of the building after inviting me to sit down called RRS officials.”

According to the police, Shofolahan is an Accounting graduate of Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Abeokuta, Ogun State.

The police said: “The suspect, who was working in his brother’s audit firm in Sabo, Yaba area of Lagos before abandoning the job in search of better offer, stated that his moves to join the Lagos State Public Service was frustrated by lack of vacancy.”

Shofolahan disclosed: “Since I have been impersonating, I have only realised N30, 000, which I collected from a home owner in Alausa while pretending to be an official of the state. I have not collected any other money apart from that. Each and every time I visited these buildings, they ask me to come back later.”