Katsina Police Arrest Fraudsters and Freeze N22 Million

The Katsina State Police Command has arrested five suspected members of a fraud syndicate. They are accused of defrauding people with fake bank transactions.

PUNCH Metro reports that during the operation, police recovered two vehicles, mobile phones, fake ID cards, and N2 million in cash.

In a statement on Sunday, DSP Abubakar Sadiq, the Command’s Police Public Relations Officer, said they also froze two bank accounts with N19 million and N3 million. This brings the total amount under restriction to N22 million.

The investigation began after a petition was received by the Commissioner of Police on October 27. Nasir Dan-Rimi alleged that he gave a 23-year-old suspect, Ahmed Abdulhakim, N10 million on October 10 for a transaction.

According to the police, Abdulhakim took the money into his personal bank account but disappeared. He reportedly used the funds for himself.

“After receiving the money, the suspect fled and used the entire amount for personal gain. All attempts to get the money back failed,” the statement said.

Police tracked down Abdulhakim, who confessed during questioning that the money was linked to a crime. He admitted that both he and the complainant were involved in scamming people.

The investigation led to a hotel used as the syndicate's base. There, police arrested two other suspects, Abdulrahman Abdullahi, also known as Khaila, 24, and Mustapha Ayuba, 24.

The hotel’s assistant manager, Fahad Ahmad, was also arrested. He allegedly helped the suspects avoid police capture.

The statement said the hotel manager often moved the suspects between rooms to make it hard for police to track them.

Further investigations showed that the main suspects had multiple fake Bank Verification Numbers (BVNs) and National Identification Numbers (NINs). They used these to open several bank accounts under false names.

The police reported that Abdulhakim had three different BVNs and NINs linked to 13 bank accounts. Abdullahi and Ayuba each had three BVNs and NINs linked to six accounts.

The suspects also named two others, Saifullahi Idris and Umar Faruq Bala, who helped them create fake BVN and NIN documents.

All those arrested admitted their roles in the fraud. Items found during the operation included a Peugeot 206, a Mercedes-Benz C300, Samsung Fold, Redmi, iPhone 14 Pro, and iPhone 13, plus N2 million in cash.

Other items included nine NIN cards, nine BVN slips with fake names, an extra NIN card, nine ATM cards, 14 SIM cards, and 12 SIM packs from different telecoms.

The statement mentioned that the original complainant, Aminu Nasir Dan-Rimi, and Surajo Sani Muhammad are believed to be the leaders of the syndicate. Both are currently on the run.

“Efforts are ongoing to find and arrest the fleeing suspects,” the police said.

State Commissioner of Police, Ali Fage, praised the officers for their hard work. He reaffirmed the command’s commitment to fighting financial and cybercrimes.

Fage also cautioned hotel owners and managers not to provide shelter or help to criminals. He urged the public to report any suspicious people or financial activities to the police.