Club girl steals customer’s ATM card, withdraws N300,000

A club girl who stole the Automated Teller Machine (ATM) card of one of her customers to withdraw N300,000 naira from his account has been arrested by the police.

The lady confessed to the police that she picked the ATM card while the owner was fast asleep.

Also arrested in connection with the incident were her boyfriend and two other persons who allegedly took part in the withdrawal.

The suspects were arrested by operatives of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) after the victim reported the incident at the Alausa office of the security unit.

The prime suspect, Imoleayo (surname withheld), had reportedly stolen the ATM card from the victim and memorised the PIN code while he was making a transaction.

Imoleayo was arrested at a club in Surulere area of Lagos while the boyfriend and two other accomplices were arrested in Itori area of Ogun State.

The victim told the police that “I thought I had misplaced the card, not knowing that the lady had stolen it and had previously memorised the PIN code for withdrawal.”

He said that he was shocked one Saturday afternoon when he received alerts amounting to N90,000 withdrawal.

He explained further that “while I was still contemplating on how to deal with the issue, I got another debit alert for buying two Infinix phones totaling N84,000. I was confused and shocked.

“I didn’t know what action to take on a Saturday evening. On Sunday, there was another debit alert. I did not pin the crime to the lady I met at the club. I lodged a complaint on Monday morning at my bank and I was told that the withdrawals and shopping were legitimately made by me,” the victim said.

He added: “I reported the incident at the RRS office on Monday after informing my bank. My emphasis to the police was the withdrawals and shopping totalling N300,000.”

In her confession, Imoleayo said: “I stole the card when the victim dozed off during our conversation. Initially, I had spied on him and memorised his PIN code when he was sending money to his colleague via mobile app.”

“I initially thought of withdrawing only N20,000 from his account and then destroying the card thereafter. But when I withdrew the money and checked the account balance, I was shocked to see his balance.

“Afterwards, I withdrew another N70,000.00 again making N90,000.00 that day. Then, the following day, I called my boyfriend who told me not to destroy the card but come straight to Itori, Ogun State, where he resides”

She said that she went to Abeokuta the following day to use the card, believing that by going far away, “nobody could trace us. We bought two android phones for N84,000 at a phone store.

“We proceeded to a boutique where four of us bought clothes worth N126,000. I also recharged my phone with another N2,500 credit. The money spent from the account was over N300, 000.00.”

She added that “I committed this offence because I was so desperate to re-stock my shop at Wasimi in Ogun State, and also to take care of my only daughter. I never had a rethink while committing the crime. I regret my action now.”

Metro gathered that two Android phones as well as eight pairs of trousers and shirts were recovered from the suspects during a thorough search of their residents.

When contacted, the image maker in the state police command, SP Dolapo Badmos confirmed the arrest of the suspects while she urged members of the public to be very mindful of how they use their ATM and other sensitive cards in the presence of strangers or people.

She also added that the suspects had been transferred to the State Criminal Investigations Department (SCID) for further investigations.