Secondary school dropout arrested for using TETFUND boss?s name to defraud people on Facebook

Police detectives from Zone 7 Police Command Headquarters, Abuja, have arrested a 26-year-old man, Emeka Marcel Nweke, for allegedly creating a Facebook page with the name of the Executive Secretary of Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND), Architect Sony Echono, to defraud members of the public.

The Assistant Inspector General (AIG) of Police, Benneth Igweh, confirmed the arrest of the suspect to newsmen in Abuja on Tuesday, December 17, 2024.

He said the suspect, a secondary school dropout, was a member of a 21-man gang and was tracked and arrested in Awada, Anambra State by police detectives.

“The suspect has a Zenith, Access, Opay, GTB, Fairmoney Microfinance, FCMB and Fidelity bank accounts. In his GTBank account alone, his transactions for the month of August 2024, alone were over N10,000,000,” the AIG said.

According to him, the Zone 7 police command, acted on a petition from the Executive Secretary of TETFUND, Arch. Sony S. T. Echono, against Emeka Marcel Nweke, Innocent Eze, Mrs Nenrot L,  Dogara Bulus, Victor Okpanach, John Kent, and 14 other suspects over alleged criminal conspiracy, impersonation, fraud, false representation, cyberstalking obtaining money false pretence and threat to life.

He said the detectives went through the suspects’ Facebook page and the chats with some of the victims were tracked; the phone number used, and also a bank account number which was seen in the chats with which they requested money.

He said the suspects presented themselves as staff of TETFUND and lured unsuspecting people with fake advertisements of supplies to schools and other institutions and asking prospective suppliers to supply goods, which they criminally diverted using fake addresses and locations.

“They also ask companies and organizations to donate monies to assist the efforts of the government to procure materials for supply to schools for developmental purposes without the knowledge of the executive secretary of TETFUND, thereby causing false representation, cyberstalking and character assassination,” he said.

The police AIG said the suspect would be charged to court after investigation, adding that efforts are on to track and arrest other fleeing suspects.

He called on members of the public to be wary of online social media fraudsters.