Posted by African News Dimension on
Nigeria's anti-corruption commission announced a crackdown Monday on conmen who have scammed hundreds of thousands of dollars by impersonating the agency's own officials.
Nigeria's anti-corruption commission announced a crackdown Monday on conmen who have scammed hundreds of thousands of dollars by impersonating the agency's own officials.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission said alleged fraudsters are already on trial in four cities for pretending to be anti-graft investigators and soliciting bribes to kill nonexistent cases.
The purported scammers, including one who impersonated the agency's Chairman Nuhu Ribadu, "have turned the name of the commission into a gold mine by using it to dupe members of the public," the agency said in a statement.
The scams have already netted hundreds of thousands of dollars, said spokesman Osita Nwajah.
President Olusegun Obasanjo has made fighting graft a priority since his 1999 election ended 15 years of brutal military rule in Africa's largest oil producer.
Since starting work in 2003, the anti-fraud agency's investigations have helped bring down ministers and high-ranking officials, including the country's police chief and the governor of an oil-rich state.
It has also led the first successful prosecutions against criminals arranging e-mail "advance fee" scams, in which people are promised portions of ill-gotten gains in exchange for an advance payment fee to help move the money overseas.
The scammers keep the fees while victims receive nothing.