The acting chairman of Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu, disclosed yesterday, September 2, 2019, that the commission has managed to arrest a woman wanted by the FBI. The woman, who is suspected of committing cybercrimes ,was arrested in Benin City, the capital of Edo State.
However, the president did not give much information about the identity of the female suspect because the investigations have not yet been completed.
Mr. Magu disclosed the arrest incident in Benin City and stressed to the media that the commission is doing all it can and is collaborating with other authorities, such as the FBI, to curb such crimes, which can cause huge financial damage to victims .
The president said the suspect “was involved in obtaining/ stealing the identities of the victims and transferring those identities to an associate in the United States.” Her associate appears to have used the victims’ identities to file false tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service. The suspect also managed to steal a large amount of funds in the form of bitcoin.
The EFCC Chairman also said that the commission has made many similar arrests from January to August 2019 in Edo, Delta and Ondo states. Specifically, it has arrested 113 internet fraudsters. The court convicted 53 of them.
Authorities have seized over 30 cars, laptops, cell phones, hard drives and more from the fraudsters.
According to Mr. Magu, the commission has arrested a cybercriminal and two brothers involved in attacks on corporate emails. The criminals were deceiving victims and gaining access to emails.
The committee is determined to find all fraudsters who commit electronic and financial crimes, while it has also targeted legitimate businesses such as hotels, casinos, oil and gas companies that are actually engaged in suspicious activities.
Mr. Magu called on the media and all patriotic Nigerians to join forces to curb cyber threats and financial crimes.
