Civil servant arrested for alleged N100m fraud, impersonating Brig-Gen

A civil servant with the Ministry of Defence, Moloney Street, Lagos, Okechukwu Ogbonna, who allegedly posed as an Army officer to defraud a wine dealer of N100 million, has been arrested.
Ogbonna was arrested on Monday by detectives of the Force Criminal Intelligence and Investigation Department (FCIID), Alagbon, Ikoyi, following a petition from one Francis Obinna, a wine dealer.
The police said the suspect claimed to be a knight in the Catholic Church, St Timothy’s parish, Ojodu-Berger, Lagos, and working as a senior technical officer, Department of Estate Management, Ministry of Defence.
Our correspondent learnt that Ogbonna, pretending to be a Brigadier-General in the Nigerian Army, allegedly collected the sum of N100m from Obinna on the pretence he would help him secure government contracts and an oil & gas business licence.
The Commissioner of Police, FCIID, Damian Okoro, told journalists on Tuesday that the fake Army general, while collecting the money, also assured the wine dealer that he would help him recover a total sum of N77m debts his customers owed him. Ogbonna, however, said he did not dupe Obinna but only tried to assist him on some areas in his business, register him as a contractor in the Nigerian Army and help him obtain a petroleum licence.