Picture: 25-yr-old corps member arrested for swindling Canadian and US visa applicants

Posted by admin Headlines Thursday, January 19th, 2012

Thursday, January 19, 2012

• Ajobola
Photo: Sun News Publishing

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Detectives attached to the Special Fraud Unit (SFU), Ikoyi, Lagos, have nabbed a 25-year-old youth corps member, Aliyu Ajobola, over an alleged fraud.

Crimewatch had earlier published the report of one Fred Makanjuola (at large), who fraudulently packaged programmes and invited interested Nigerians, who wanted to live and work in Canada to apply.
Makanjuola had always told his victims that the programme was free of charge but our checks revealed that applicants were expected to sign bond to pay back, double what he spent in the process.

This scam was said to have been going on before the National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic in Persons (NAPTIP) bust the racket.
It was gathered that to further convince and confuse his teeming victims, the suspect organised a symposium at the University of Lagos (UNILAG), invited some ‘resource persons’ he claimed to have been drawn from the banking sector, Nigeria Immigration Service, among others, to lecture the victims how to travel to Canada to actualise their dreams without tarnishing the image of Nigeria. Among other guests invited to the symposium was one Barrister Odion, who claimed to be the representative of GT bank.

Some of the victims had narrated how they visited the bank and confirmed that some traveler’s cheques were actually processed and handed over to him (Makanjuola). He was also said to have told them to fill a supposedly traveler’s cheque form, which he claimed was from GT Bank. Unlike Makanjuola who defrauded many, Aliyu was still warming up to start collecting money to process visas for his victims when he was apprehended by detectives from the SFU. Crimewatch gathered that they had been on his trail after they were alerted by the Canadian High Commission.

According to the Public Relations Officer of SFU, Ngozi Isintume, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), Aliyu became a wanted person after the police got a tip-off from the head of visa operations, Canadian High Commission, informing them of his nefarious activities. After getting the report, police swung into action and arrested Aliyu, who also claimed to be the MD/CEO of Global Edge Consulting Limited, Ogudu, Ojota, Lagos. In the course of their investigation, they discovered that the US Embassy and Canadian High Commission did not authorise him or his company to act as their agent or consultant.

The US Embassy revealed that there was no entry fee for the Diversity Visa Lottery Programme while the Canadian High Commission said the Global Edge Consulting Limited was not registered as one of the designated Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council (ICCRC), adding that its activities were not in any way recognised by the Canadian government.

Aliyu, a graduate of Industrial Chemistry, admitted that his line of operation included, handling of applications and procurement of Diversity Visa Lottery to US and issuance of residence/work permit in Canada and Australia. He disclosed that he established the firm while he was still a student and used it to help applicants register for the Diversity Visa Lottery to US. After his graduation from the university, he made sure he was posted to his company for the youth service. It afforded him the opportunity to spread his net and processed the Canadian Residence Permit. He confessed to have defrauded over 3,000 Nigerians, who paid over N4, 000 each, using different bank accounts.

Aliyu was said to have told his victims that the money would cover their expenses for one-day seminar on work permit. According to him, a member of the syndicate whose name was given as Ade Mabo, was to assist them to bring a Canadian Immigration lawyer for the seminar, which was expected to commence in January 2012. The lawyer, a white man, was expected to claim to be a Canadian citizen from their High Commission in Nigeria.

To make his activities look like a genuine one, Aliyu printed some forms from Internet with the headline, ‘Application for Permanent Residence’, which were used to collect applicants’ details for work permit eligibility evaluation. “Each form cost N500 for an individual and N1,000 for members of family. I also registered over 1,000 applicants for Diversity Visa Lottery programme 2013 where he also collected N500 for single and N1,000 for family applicants,” one of the victims, who pleaded anonymity said.
The suspect confessed cashing in on the desperation of Nigerians to travel abroad to swindle them. “It was easy to convince them to part with some money since most of the documents were downloaded from the High Commission’s website,” he said.

One of the victims, Yemisi, who spoke to Crimewatch said she was desperate to get a visa to travel to America, adding that it was the reason she quickly parted with N300, 000. According to her, she paid the money when one of his customers told her the transaction was a genuine one. But when the visa procurement was not forthcoming, Yemisi called the Embassy on phone to confirm if her application was with them and when it would be processed. She was shocked when she was told that such firm did not exist and that American Embassy did not engage in a third party consultation.

Another victim, who parted with N4, 500 for the Canadian Resident Permit, said he was deceived by some people at Ojota, Lagos, who told him the transaction was genuine. “Besides, I have a friend, who succeeded through that process and he is working in Canada now,” he said. Confirming Aliyu’s arrest, the Commissioner of Police in charge of SFU, Mr. Chinwike Asadu, advised members of the public, who wish to travel abroad, to always procure their travel documents from the appropriate Embassies or High Commissions. He urged them not to patronise fraudsters, who present themselves as agents or consultants to avoid falling prey to nefarious activities.

Meanwhile, Aliyu has been arraigned in a Magistrate court in Lagos on an-eight-count charge.wp_posts