Accountant in ICPC net over alleged new Naira notes racketeering

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has apprehended an accountant at a filling station in Dutse Alhaji, Abuja, over an alleged scheme involving new Naira notes.

The Commission’s spokesperson, Mrs Azuka Ogugua, disclosed in a statement on Friday in Abuja that the latest arrest is part of the Commission’s relentless pursuit of those taking advantage of the scarcity of new Naira notes to swindle unsuspecting Nigerians.

Ogugua explained that the Commission’s Monitoring Team had received a tip-off that the filling station in question had deliberately cut off its Point of Sale (POS) services to facilitate fraudulent activities.

Consequently, motorists were unable to access Premium Motor Spirit, commonly called Petrol, using their Automated Teller Machine (ATM) cards.

Further investigations by the ICPC revealed that motorists were compelled to pay for the petrol in cash, and those without new notes were directed to a POS operator situated directly opposite the filling station to obtain cash.

The ICPC team found that the POS not only belonged to the filling station accountant but was also charging high commissions contrary to the directive of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

During the operation, the ICPC operatives discovered One Million Naira (N1,000,000) with the POS operator and directed that it be deposited into a bank account.

The accountant and the POS operator were apprehended and have since been granted administrative bail by the Commission.

(Tribune)