The Delta State Police Command has released a member of the National Youth Service Corps serving in Akwa Ibom State, Ayodeji Olaniyi, on bail over an alleged fraud.
Olaniyi, who is said to be a bitcoin trader, sold some cryptocurrencies to a client, who allegedly hacked into another person’s account to pay him.
A friend of Olaniyi, Olowoleye Olayinka, said the corps member became suspicious after his client paid the naira value for the bitcoins into his account using another person’s bank account.
According to Olayinka, his friend reported the matter at the ‘A’ Division in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, which asked him to confirm the matter with the bank.
He added that Olaniyi’s account was frozen after reporting the suspicious transaction to his bank.
He said, “Olaniyi, who sold bitcoins to a client in Delta State, was arrested on January 14, 2019. The client hacked into a woman’s United Bank for Africa account in Delta State to pay into his Guaranty Trust Bank account through mobile transfer.
“When he discovered that the name of the client, who bought the bitcoins, was different from the account name through which he was paid, he went to the ‘A’ Division, Uyo on January 12 to report the matter to the DPO.
“The DPO was not around; he met with the IPO and wrote a statement. On January 14, he went back to the police station to ascertain that the DPO was aware of the statement he wrote but he was arrested and detained at the ‘C’ Division, Uyo.â€
The Police Public Relations Officer in Delta State, Aniamaka Andrew, said Olaniyi was released following the intervention of the NYSC.
She said, “He has already been released following the intervention of the NYSC since he is a corps member. As it is, his bail is an administrative bail, which means whenever his attention is needed; the authority will still take him.
“I think this one also serves as an avenue to educate people and re-orientate youths about cryptocurrencies. The tendency to make it fast through involvement in cryptocurrencies is not in the interest of the society and corps members should not be involved in fraudulent acts such as this.
“Before now, we had alerted members of the public to the tendency by criminal elements to woo them to part with their hard-earned money by making mouth-watering offers to them on bitcoins or cryptocurrencies. Youths, especially the youth corps members, must stay away from this scheme.â€
Copyright PUNCH.
