EFCC

By Ngozi Onyeakusi–‘The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)  has recovered N3.6million stolen from a bank account and returned the money to the victim in Yola, Adamawa State.
The commission, in a statement by its spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren, said the victim is 86-year-old Muhammed Mubi, who is a retired Permanent Secretary at the Adamawa State Ministry of Education.’

It said Mr Mubi received the cheque for the recovered N3.6million at his residence in Yola, Adamawa State, from the Head, Foreign Exchange Malpractice Section (FEMS), Abdullahi Suraiju on Wednesday.
Mr Suraiju was said to have handed over the money to the victim on behalf of the Commander, Gombe Zonal Command, Babashani Umar Sanda.
“I present this cheque to you being funds recovered for you by the Commission in the course of an investigation into your petition” Mr Suraiju stated.

The recovery of the money totalling N3, 639,500 was said to follow a petition by the victim sometime in November 2021.
The complainant had alleged in his petition an unauthorised withdrawal from his Unity Bank account, where he receives his pension.
The victim reported that he decided to report the issue to the EFCC after he went to withdraw some funds but was told he could not due to insufficient funds standing to his credit.

He requested his bank statement and realised that an Automated Teller Machine (ATM) was issued in his name to withdraw all his savings, the commission said.
EFCC said its investigations revealed that the crime was carried out by a former employee of the bank, who took advantage of the victim’s vulnerability and age, gained his trust by offering unsolicited assistance before perpetrating the crime.
“Investigation further revealed that what was stolen from the victim’s account was more than the Two Million, Nine Hundred Thousand Naira(N2,900,000) the victim reported in his petition.
“The victim, through his counsel, thanked the commission for what he described as “swift and professional response” on the matter,” the statement added.