Detectives from the Police Special Fraud Unit (PSFU) in Lagos have arrested Timothy Fashina Oluwabukola, a 32-year-old undergraduate of Moshood Abiola Polytechnic (MAPOLY), and Anthony Imonina Odemerho, the Proprietor of Resign Regal Academy in Benin City, Edo State, for cyberfraud, money laundering, fraudulent conversion, and the theft of airtime valued at ₦1,227,140,000.
The arrests followed a petition from a GSM operator in Nigeria after an audit revealed discrepancies between revenue collection accounts and fulfillments. The investigation revealed that between February and March 2024, Fashina, along with unidentified third-party web/application developers, compromised the GSM provider’s network using a Virtual Private Network (VPN) to mask their IP addresses and gain access to the company’s Application Programme Interface (API).
Fashina manipulated the API to replicate ₦100,000 airtime tickets, obtaining airtime worth ₦1,227,140,000. He then transferred the airtime to GSM numbers under his control. Imonina, based in Benin City, downloaded the GSM provider’s mobile app and logged in with Fashina’s phone number. After receiving a one-time password (OTP) from Fashina, Imonina accessed the app and converted the fraudulently obtained airtime into data, which he sold to 52 unsuspecting subscribers, including individuals and companies.
The payments for the sold data, totaling ₦1,314,644,835, were traced to Imonina’s bank accounts. Imonina then forwarded ₦1,220,147,000 to Fashina, keeping ₦87,497,835 as his commission. Proceeds from the fraud included 110 hectares of farmland in Iseyin, Oyo State; an uncompleted building in Abeokuta, Ogun State; a two-storey warehouse; inventory of stocks in the warehouse; a towing/truck head; a crypto wallet containing 21,000 USDT; gifts to friends; two Hiace buses; a Toyota Sienna; and a Volkswagen bus.
The PSFU has filed criminal charges against the suspects at the Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos. Efforts are ongoing to apprehend the third-party developers involved in the syndicate and to identify other assets acquired with the fraud proceeds.
Additionally, the PSFU has arrested Ebele Bernardine Okpala, a former Keystone Bank Limited staff member, for fraudulent conversion and theft of ₦35,000,000. Okpala obtained the funds as a credit facility to secure a Canadian visa for her daughter but, in collusion with a colleague, lifted the Post-No-Debit (PND) placed on her account without authorization and transferred the money for personal use. She absconded from her duties but was later tracked to Delta State and arrested on July 4, 2024. Criminal charges have been filed against her at the Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos.