Operatives of the Nigeria Police Force have arrested, twenty-four cybercrime suspects, including three brothers for cybercrime and running a fake Frank Mba Foundation bank account with FCMB.

DCP FRANK MBA, Force Public Relations Officer, disclosed this in a statement on Monday, June 22, 2020.

The three brothers identified as Emmanuel Ushie (23), Henry Ushie (30), a graduate of statistics from Anambra State University, and Matthew Ushie (28), an OND graduate from Federal Polytechnic Oko, were arrested for running a fake foundation using the name of Police spokesperson, Frank Mba.

Suspects: The three brothers

The trio used a fake Facebook account and fraudulently operated bank accounts to defraud Nigerians of their hard earned monies under the pretext that the Foundation is raising money to help vulnerable Nigerians during the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to the spokesman, Intelligence Response Team (IRT) revealed that the brothers engaged extensively and serially in such frauds and other related cybercrimes.

During unrelenting manhunt of the fraudsters, Henry Ushie 'm' 30yrs, an elder sibling to Emmanuel Ushie, was identified as the gang leader of the syndicate behind the scam. He went underground as his younger siblings also involved in the crime were arrested.

After thorough investigations, Henry Ushie was arrested on Thursday, June 6, at his hideout in Ihiala, Anambra State, which led to the arrest of his younger brother Mathew Ushie, who is also an active member of the syndicate, he added. 

According to the Force, further investigation revealed that Mathew Ushie had been arrested in Ghana last year in a well-publicized bust of fraudsters, adding that Information about his arrest and parading before the press in Ghana is available on the internet.

Mathew Ushie and other international fraudsters used the name of the Inspector General of Police of Ghana, John Kudalor to defraud unsuspecting Ghanaian policemen in the pretext of providing opportunity for them to attend United Nations peacekeeping mission using a fake Facebook account. 

Similarly, Henry Ushie had also been arrested in 2017 by the IRT for impersonating then ACP ABBA Kyari, the Commander IRT on Facebook and defrauding many innocent Nigerians before he was arrested and subsequently charged to Court for impersonation. He was bailed from the court and went back to same crime, the Force added.

According to Mba, the other 21 suspects, which comprised of twenty-three (20) males and one(1) female, were arrested for their involvement and indictment in cases of romance and online dating scams, generating and deployment of fake bank alerts, hacking and fraudulent wire transfers, cyber stalking and impersonation of high-profile personalities in Nigeria and across the world.

Items recovered from the suspects include: 11 Laptop Computers, 37 mobile phones, 11 SIM cards of different telecoms networks, 5 International passports, 12 ATM Cards, fake US Dollar notes,and quantities of dry leaves suspected to be marijuana.   

The Police spokesman said all the suspects will be charged to court at the conclusion of investigations.

The Inspector-General of Police, IGP Abubakar Adamu assured Nigerians that the Force will not relent in getting rid of all forms of crimes and criminality, including cybercrime from the country.

He urged Nigerians to redirect their energy to the positive utilization of the cyberspace, cyber resources and the social media, and shun their related negative influences.