Ondo police arrest 2 suspected fraudsters

POLICE in Ondo State have arrested two suspected fraudsters, Feyi Akintujoye 28 and Felix Akindolatan 31, who specialised in duping bank customers by hypnotising them before taking their money.

Speaking after parading the two suspects, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), in the state, Femi Joseph said the mode of operation of the two suspects involved laying an ambush for innocent youths who visit banks to make use of the Automated Teller Machine ATM.

He said that the suspects would pretend to have lost their way and looking for direction and after engaging their victims in a discussion would hypnotise them by collecting their cash and ATM card.

According to the PPRO, the suspects’ victims usually gave out their secret PIN number and while the hoodlums immediately were withdrawn.

Their victims would thereafter reveal to them their pin number after which they will immediately in the presence of their victim withdraw all the cash in their account.

Joseph said the suspects would have disappeared from the scene with the money, but detectives from the command who had been monitoring trail them to Ile Oluji.

He pointed out that the suspects were arrested after they robbed two young aluminum apprentice Anthony Ameh and Opeyemi of N150, 000.

One of the victims, Anthony, while narrating his ordeal, said the two men collected N50,000 from their account before one of the suspects Felix, approached him to ask for a direction.

He pointed out that while he spoke in Yoruba to his friend Opeyemi who understood his language, the second suspect also walked to them and started chatting some incantations.

He said “He was holding one red handkerchief and was saying some incantations to it after which they asked me to bring the N50, 000 l just collected from the ATM.

“My friends and I were just obeying them. They again asked that l should bring my ATM and asked for my pin number which l gave to them voluntarily.

“One of them rushed to the machine and withdrew another N100, 000 and before we knew what was happening they had disappeared from the scene.

Joseph, however, said that detectives laid an ambush for the suspects after the victims lodged a complaint and were subsequently apprehended the second day and they were preparing to rob another victim when they were apprehended by the security operatives.

Speaking, the suspects said that the two victims fell for their tricks because they were greedy and wanted cheap money, saying that they sold a dummy to the victims by promising them that if they can raise some money for a cosmetic business they would make a double profit before the Christmas.

He said they only used tricks to rob their victims and denied hypnotising them before withdrawing from their Bank Account. But said they fell into our trap because of their greed adding that one of the victims volunteered his pin number voluntarily.

Both suspects confirmed collecting N150, 000 from the victims and promised to return the money back to them after they were apprehended.