By Twenty-three foreign nationals have been taken into custody by the Ogun State Police Command following a raid on a residential property in Ota, where operatives suspected a Ponzi scheme and visa fraud operation was being run.
According to a statement from the command’s spokesperson, DSP Oluseyi Babaseyi, issued Monday in Abeokuta, officers from the Atan-Ota Division carried out the operation around 11am on August 4, acting on credible intelligence pointing to fraudulent activity at the address. Babaseyi said the police “promptly mobilised, secured the premises and arrested the suspects for further investigation.”
He said the 23 foreign nationals were held over an alleged Ponzi-style investment scheme, a parallel visa fraud racket, and other immigration-related offences uncovered during the operation.
Following preliminary investigation, Babaseyi said 21 of the suspects were handed over to the Nigeria Immigration Service on August 5, to allow the agency to continue investigating the immigration dimension of the case and take appropriate action. The remaining two suspects were kept back by the police, who intend to prosecute them for obtaining by false pretences and other related offences, pending the conclusion of investigation.
Babaseyi added that investigations are continuing to establish the full circumstances behind the alleged fraudulent activities and to identify any other persons who may be connected to the scheme.
