I bought houses, cars with fake dollars —Suspect
Policemen attached to the Special Anti Robbery squad, Lagos State police command, are investigating a 42-year-old man, Rafiu Olusamokun, over allegation of money counterfeiting. According to the police, Mr. Olusamokun, was caught with fake local and foreign currency running into millions in his house at Ayidolapo Street, in the Ikotun area of Lagos.The Lagos State Commissioner of police, Mr.Fatia Owoseni, while reacting to the arrest, stated that the suspect belongs to syndicate which specialized in producing fake currencies but luck ran out on the suspect when following a tipoff by members of the public who have fallen victims to the gang, the police placed a covert surveillance on the suspect and he was arrested in the act. The suspect was later paraded alongside his iron box filled with different currencies .
The suspect however stated that he joined the gang to make ends meet adding that he was lured into crime by bad friends “I am a motor mechanic before I was deceived into production of fake currencies. I worked with some people who are still at large.
They are the ones who taught me this business. I have made alot of money .I have bought houses and cars. Luck ran out on me when the police recovered an iron box full of fake dollars, pounds and naira notes from my house. Some materials such as cotton wool, paints and oil, allegedly used in the production of the money, were also recovered by the police.
Some men introduced me into the business. I ran into them by chance and they told me they just returned from Europe. They brainwashed me and forced pay about N600, 000 to purchase the materials to produce the fake currencies. He said, “I met those people early this year. I was working as a motor mechanic, and I just ran into them.
They said they recently returned from Europe. When I visited them at a hotel in the Bar Beach, Victoria Island area, they brought out the samples of the currencies they had, and said I could produce same if I wanted to become wealthy. “I was immediately interested. A friend, Sule Sulaimon, who went with me, also became interested.
Their leader said all I needed to do was to purchase the chemicals from them. He said I should bring N1m, but I eventually paid N650,000 for the chemicals. “I did not know the samples they gave me were fake; the papers looked so original. I first gave him N400,000, and then N250,000. He said I could reproduce as much hard currencies as I wanted from the materials I had.
“The currencies recovered from my house runs into millions, but I was not through with the reproduction. If I had finished with it, I would have been a wealthy man. I would have evaded the arrest.”
A police source said that Olusamokun was to give part of the money reproduced to the syndicate, so that he could be given more materials. He added that the police were still on the trail of the group. “The syndicate gave him the materials and the currencies to wash into original. The money is actually worth millions. He was producing 100 and 200 and pounds.
The police found the fake cash in his house,” he said. Mr.Owoseni, said the police will soon arrest other members of the gang adding that the suspect would be charged to court.
No comments:
Post a Comment