The pathetic story and suicide attempt by a Finnish policewoman,
identified simply as Raiji, after a Nigerian, Isibor Ehichioya Hillary
24, swindled her of N73.63 million, has caused the Inspector-General of
Police, Ibrahim Idris, to launch an investigation, leading to the arrest
of the suspected fraudster.
Raiji was said to have petitioned
Idris after she was swindled of a loan she collected from a bank
believing she was investing it into a business that would yield profit.
The
victim, who met Hillary on Facebook, thought she was dealing with an
American soldier serving in Iraq called Marco Paulo. Truly vexed by the
policewoman’s ordeal in the hands of Hillary, Idris instructed his
Special Intelligence Response Team, IRT, led by a Deputy Commissioner of
Police (DCP), Mr. Abba Kyari, to fish out the suspect.
Speaking
after his arrest, Hillary said: “The total money I have in my bank
account right now after my expenses is N8 million. I am very sorry about
the crime I have committed. My Facebook account has been blocked.
“I
have defrauded so many white women through my Facebook account,
including Raiji from Finland. I took a total of 178,000 euro from her.
My own share was 82,000 euro.”
Police started hunting Hillary, a
graduate of Civil Engineering, Ambrose Ali University, Epkoma, after
Raiji’s petition disclosing her suicide attempt was perused by Idris.
Hillary, formerly based in Turkey, made the Finnish woman to pay the sum
of 178,000 to an account belonging to one of his cronies, Beggie, under
the guise that the money would be used for a business, which would
yield huge profit.
Firmly believing she was dealing with a
soldier, Raiji sent the money and waited in vain for the profit that was
to come from the business investment, but mum was the word from
‘Paulo.’ Sick to her stomach with worry and sensing something was
seriously wrong, the policewoman carried out a personal investigation on
the said ‘Paulo.’
She discovered that she had been dealing with a Nigerian, posing as an American soldier stationed in Iraq.
IRT
operatives trailed and arrested Hillary and other of his cronies at
Abuja. Hillary confessed that he had N8 million in his account, which
was part of the proceeds of the scam. He further disclosed that he also
used part of the money to buy Toyota Matrix, a laptop, an Iphone, landed
property and an apartment. The items had since been recovered from him.
He
added: “I spent two years in Turkey, where I was taught how to carry
out internet fraudster. My teacher is Mr. Kalu. My specialisation is to
provide account for fraudsters across the globe. The first person I
provided an account for is Peter. “I also do online dating scam. The
properties I have acquired from the business are Toyota Corolla 2014
model which I bought for N3.8m, a Toyota Matrix, which I bought for N1.6
million. I also bought a land for N2 million and I rented an apartment
for N880,000.”
