Two individuals, Elvis Osakpolo Edokpain, 23, and Kelly Osas Endgieen, 24, who are accused of engaging in certificate forgery and internet fraud, have been apprehended by police officers attached to the Assistant Inspector-General (AIG) Zone 2 in Onikan.
Investigators believe that Edokpain and Endgieen used the proceeds from their illicit activities to acquire luxury vehicles and build lavish properties across the country. In addition to their forgery activities, the suspects are also accused of attempting to bribe law enforcement officers with N66 million in exchange for their release.
The police were alerted to their activities following a tip-off to the Zone's Anti-Corruption Unit, which had received information about a group involved in the production of fake foreign certificates. Acting on the intelligence, officers, under the directive of AIG Adegoke Fayoade, set up surveillance and successfully tracked the suspects, who had recently returned from an overseas trip.
The arrest operation led police to the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, where they began tailing the suspects. After their arrival, the suspects were traced to a hotel in Osapa-London, Lekki, but were apprehended at a nearby bus stop while attempting to flee.
During a search of their luggage, investigators discovered various forged documents, including a certificate from Blue Crest College, Ghana, belonging to Edokpain, and an academic identification card from Academic City College found on Endgieen. Further inspection revealed a transcript from Blue Crest University bearing Edokpain's name, along with additional forged documents such as a letter of English proficiency and a recommendation letter from the same institution.
In their confessions, the suspects admitted to never being enrolled at the universities mentioned and explained that they had procured the fake certificates through a female Nigerian national residing in Ghana. They also revealed that their primary aim was to obtain Ghanaian student residency permits, which they successfully acquired. The suspects disclosed that they paid a total of 26,000 Ghana cedis (approximately N2.6 million) for the forged certificates and residency permits.
During interrogation, the suspects further confessed to their involvement in online romance scams and providing fraudulent foreign bank accounts for illicit financial transactions. They impersonated an American soldier named "Captain Donald Rowe" on Instagram, claiming to be on a peacekeeping mission in Syria. The suspects would then convince their victims to make payments for goods they claimed to be selling from Syria, after which they funneled the funds through blockchain wallets or foreign bank accounts, ultimately transferring the money into Nigerian accounts.
According to the suspects, their primary targets were individuals from Japan, Denmark, and China. They also claimed to have partners in countries like the UK and South Africa, assisting in executing these fraudulent schemes. The police have contacted the Ghanaian High Commission to gather additional information about the fraud operation and its local facilitators in Ghana. Authorities have also enlisted the help of Interpol to track down the international collaborators involved in the scam.
The suspects, who stated they had only attended secondary school in Benin City, expressed regret over their actions, attributing their descent into crime to poverty and the desperation to survive.