Christopher oji
The Lagos State Police Command has arrested a former staff of a new-generation bank for allegedly defrauding unsuspecting Nigerians of over N500 million through illegal forex deals
Onigbinde, an economist, has allegedly rendered over 200 Nigerians broke following his proposal to double their return on investment monthly through forex deals.
The suspect who has been detained at Area F, Lagos State Police Command, Ikeja, said that his victims began to trust him after he fulfilled his promise on his first set of investors.
The victims, who made huge profits, had introduced other gullible Nigerians to him. At that point, Onigbinde, who operated for about three years with no registered office address, license and without being detected by law enforcement agents, swindled his “clients” and permanently switched off his phone.
He was, however, tracked and arrested by detectives, led by the Area Commander, Area ‘F’, ACP Akinbayo Olasoji, through his wife who had threatened to run to America with their only child when she noticed illegal dealings by her husband.
Detectives had tracked his wife’s phone number after several petitions from his victims who approached police operatives to seek justice.
Onigbinde told newsmen that he regretted his actions.
According to him: “I collect money from people for forex trading. I have been in the business since 2017, but my wife got to know the deals I am doing towards the end of last year.
“When she discovered, she warned me not to collect money from Nigerians. She advised I could convince family members to invest, but she never knew I had gone far into it.
“I graduated and had my NYSC with a bank. I have been married for over two years now. I collected the money from my clients to invest in forex, but the business went bad and I lost the money. I am oweing many of my clients about N234 million and I promise to pay back in one year.
“Altgough I have been operating without license from Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and CBN but I was planning to clean up and go legitimate soon, before I was arrested.
“I have five accounts in my bank, which I was using to perpetrate my deals. I don’t have an office, to avoid being traced but I use my brother’s office in Alagomeji, Yaba.
“My biggest pain now is that my wife is angry at me right now. She reported me to family members and threatened to run away, before I was arrested.
“She was also arrested and allowed to go. She was arrested because I forged her signature in some of the documents without her knowledge.”