The Nation Newspaper

Tag: fraudulent

  • Stamp duty charge is fraudulent, says NECA

    Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) said the imposition of and collection of stamp duty is illegal and fraudulent.

    It therefore advised the Federal Government to urgently direct the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) to respect valid court judgment and stop   defrauding millions of bank customers in the name of deduction of stamp duties from their accounts.

    Its Director-General, Mr. Timothy Olawale, said the issue of imposing N50 stamp duty commenced when the CBN directed that banks must deduct N50 stamp duty on all transactions made with a value of N1,000 and above.

    Olawale said: “The issue of stamp duty was tested in courts and a ruling was obtained in an appeal against the lower court judgment in the case of Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria Ltd vs. Kasmal International Services Ltd & 22 Ors in CA/L/437A/2014, when Hon. Justice Ibrahim Saulawa and four other Justices of the Court of Appeal held that the Stamp Duties Act did not impose a duty on Money Deposit Banks to deduct N50 on bank deposits.

    “Thus, according to the Appeal Court, electronic transactions were not covered by the Stamp Duties Act.

    “To the best of our knowledge, there was no challenge of this ruling by any party at the Supreme Court.”

    Olawale said the refusal of the CBN and NIPOST to respect a valid judgment of a competent Court of the land is worrisome, adding that it amounts to contempt of court and sustained daylight robbery of millions of bank customers’ deposits.

    “It is a mark of disrespect to the Constitution of Nigeria, disrespect to the court, disrespect to due process and disrespect to Nigerians. In fact, NECA had written letters in 2015 and 2017 to the CBN Governor, calling his attention to the anomaly and judgment of the court which he neither responded to nor did the needful by halting the fraud and rip off,” he said.

  • Fraudulent agents get jobs unhindered, says ARIAN

    Fraudulent insurance agents easily secure new jobs from insurance firms unhindered, Association of Registered Insurance Agents of Nigeria (ARIAN) President, Ademola Fagbayi has said.

    He spoke at the association’s  Annual National Conference, Investiture, Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Lagos.

    Fagbayi, who said the association is seeking collaboration with the Nigeria Insurers Association (NIA) to help end the menace and preserve the integrity of professional agents, called on insurance firms to cooperate with them by providing names and other information of any agent found guilty of committing a fraud.

    He said: “As professional agents, we are not happy that fraudulent agents are able to commit fraud and continue to tarnish our image. Our major challenge is the fact that they are able to move from one insurance company to another. They easily get new jobs because the companies are eager to recruit in recent times.

    “This is why we are calling on insurance companies to co-operate with us. We want to collaborate with the companies and NIA. The type of collaboration that we want from the companies is the type that they will send names of agents that commit fraud to us so that we can stop the renewal of license to such agent. This will put an end to fraudulent agent moving from one company to another.

    “This is because ARIAN certificate is one of the conditions for license by the regulatory authority, the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM). So that when they find it difficult to renew their license with us at the association, they will not be able to get their agency license from the commission and in turn, they won’t be able to get a job in the sector again.”

    Meanwhile, ARM Life Plc Managing Director, Steve Alangbo, who was the guest speaker at the event, in his paper titled: “Retail insurance & digital transformation” advised the agents to leverage technology to attract more policy holders into the insurance value chain.

    He urged the agents to take advantage of the social media platforms to reach out to the uninsured in the country, stressing that technology would help make the agents more relevant, engender huge premium generation and enhance service delivery.

    “As agents, you also need to help your offices initiate easy ways of paying premium and settling claims,” he added.

  • World Bank: Beware of fraudulent Cooperative schemes

    The World Bank has warned Nigerians of a fraudulent multi-purpose co-operative scheme currently being sold to members of the public in some local communities in the country.

    The bank said in a statement issued yesterday that “those behind the schemes have been promising unsuspecting members of the public huge ‘Bottom-up’ grants.

    According to the statement signed by Olufunke Olufon, spokesperson of the World Bank Group in Nigeria, “several correspondences targeting innocent citizens are being circulated falsely claiming that the World Bank is giving out money to individuals to do business and demanding processing fees of N1000 from prospective awardees. Please note that the World Bank is not behind this multi-purpose scheme and ‘bottom-up’ grant.”

    The World Bank she said, “does not request for personal financial information for applicants to its programmes.”

    The statement urged the public “to verify any information regarding World Bank-assisted programmes offered by the bank from its website: http://projects.worldbank.org/ ,

    Ms. Olufon warned that “the Bank would not be held responsible for any refunds of fees solicited by fraudsters purporting to act on its behalf.”The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to countries of the world for capital programs. It comprises two institutions: the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), and the International Development Association (IDA). The World Bank is a component of the World Bank Group.

  • Fraudulent UTME centre owners in police net

    Two men and owners of a computer-based test centre, Vision Computer Academy, located on 1, Ganiyu Adeboyejo Close, Eputu London, Eputu Bus Stop, Ibeju Lekki, Lagos, Mr. Bamigbade Ajibola and Amoo Moshood were arrested last Saturday in Lagos for illegally registrating candidates for the 2018 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).

    They were arrested by Policemen from Adeniji Adele Police Station, Lagos Island, after a tip-off that they were using Lagos Island Primary School, Sura, for the illegal registration exercise.

    Mr. Sunday Aladegbaye, Coordinator of the the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) Lagos Office of), said the CBT centre, though legally accredited, moved its router and computers to an illegal location to register candidates and extort money from them.

    Aladegbaye warned other CBT owners that JAMB was determined to identify bad eggs negating its efforts at standardising the conduct of examination and admission processes in Nigeria.

     

  • Bond FM to curb fraudulent acts

    •Station marks 30th anniversary

    The General Manager, Bond FM, GRA, Ikeja, Lagos, Princess Adenike Adegoke, has said management will soon introduce agricultural programmes, to curb fraudulent acts among youths.

    Adegoke, who spoke at the weekend at the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the radio station, said Bond FM also intended to introduce children’s and youths’ programmes, to promote Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba languages among them.

    She said: “We want to discourage youths from involving in crimes. This is why we will soon introduce agricultural programmes, which will enable our youths to become self-employed, thus discouraging them from vices.

    “Our aim is also to promote unity, our languages and cultures, as well as prevent them from going into extinction. We want our children and youths to speak Nigerian languages fluently. We want to encourage them to have mastery of indigenous languages and discourage them from crimes.”

    The Director Lagos Operation (D.L.O.), Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), Prince Adeyinka Amosu, hailed Bond FM for promoting unity and cultural values.

    Amosu, represented by the Deputy Director, News & Current Affairs, Alhaja Sherifat Ahmed, said since Bond FM was established on September 20, 1987, it had promoted unity and encouraged indigenous languages.

    The Registrar of National Broadcast Academy, FRCN, GRA, Ikeja, Lagos, Mr. Jimoh Ibrahim, said Bond FM had come of age, adding that that was one of the reasons it won the ‘2017 Radio Station of the Year’ award.

    He said: “The station has a bright future, as it promotes cultural values, languages and unites Nigerians.”

  • Fraudulent sales girl in‘N285,000 scam’

    A 21-year-old sales girl, Oluwatobi Blessing, has been arraigned at an Osogbo Chief Magistrates’ Court, Osun State, for alleged N285,000 fraud.

    She is facing a two-count charge of conspiracy and theft.

    The prosecutor, Sunday Ajayi, told the court the defendant committed the offences on August 7, at Akindeko, Osogbo, Osun State capital.

    He said the accused conspired with two others at large to steal N285,000 belonging to Bunmi Dayo.

    Ajayi said the accused is a sales girl working for the complainant and was sent to withdraw the money from an ATM machine. She stole the money after the withdrawal.

    He said the accused allegedly lied she was attacked and dispossessed of the money.

    The prosecutor said the offences are punishable under Section 390(9) of the Criminal Code Cap 34 Vol.11, Laws of Osun State, 2003.

    The defendant denied committing the offences. The Magistrate, Mrs. Fatima Sodamade, granted her bail at N200,000 and one surety.

    The case was adjourned till September 5 for hearing.

  • Expose fraudulent lecturers,students told

    Expose fraudulent lecturers,students told

    The acting Rector of Abia State Polytechnic, Aba, Prof. Friday Ezionye Eboh, has assured old and new students of the institution of quality service delivery. This is even as students were challenged to expose lecturers that indulge in sharp practices.

    Eboh, who spoke during the 23rd matriculation of the institution, said that the essence of the quality service delivery was to equip students with the right training and knowledge that will enable them compete favourably and even outsmart their counterparts on the global stage as a result of the training acquired.

    While thanking members of the institution’s tripartite worker’s unions for supporting his administration, Eboh told the students to take advantage of the peaceful and conducive academic environment in the institution.

    To minimise wastages to the barest minimum, Eboh said management has introduced an e-payment system that captures all fees and charges made by the students through the list of approved financial institutions.

    Eboh, who equally thanked the state government for bailing the institution out of its financial and managerial gaps, assured workers that their inconsistent arrears and salaries would soon be a thing of the past.

    “Though challenges remain, rest assured that we won’t be swallowed by them.We should not allow the ugly experiences of the past to becloud our sense of purpose and direction. We must hold tenaciously to global best practices in this enterprise.

    “As part of our efforts to eradicate indiscipline, we have instituted the Ethics and Quality Assurance Committee to report and investigate all cases of sorting and other forms of intimidation by workers. Students now have telephone number of the (acting) Rector to call and report any case.

    “We are currently discussing with one of the service providers on the internet connection to the whole school. We have also populated website with research and other scholarly publications of members of staff,” the rector stated.

  • Marching orders to fraudulent cooperatives in Niger

    Unscrupulous cooperatives and financial organisations have got their marching orders in Niger State.

    The state government told them that the era of disappearing into thin air after taking people’s money has gone.

    Such fraudulent operators would be arrested and prosecuted, the government warned, adding that the monitoring mechanisms have been put in place to ensure that such fraudsters are exposed.

    The Head of Service, Yabagi Alhaji Sule lamented that a lot of people in the state have lost their money to fraudulent organisations and cooperatives while others have had stroke and died due to the shock received when news of the collapse of such financial institutions got to them.

    The state government made its position known at a meeting with stakeholders of the Nigeria Union of Teachers Social Security Scheme (NUT ENDWELL) held in Minna, the state capital, declaring that the state government would no longer condone a situation where schemes are formed and used to siphon people’s money.

    The Head of Service said that any individual or organisation found wanting would face the wrath of the law while warning the people to be cautious in whatever cooperatives or organisation they wish to put invest their money.

    Yabagi commended the NUT ENDWELL Scheme for seeking deliberate shift from the social welfare thinking to coordinated actions designed to protect the contributors from economic and social deprivation arising from retirement from formal jobs and sudden health challenges.

    In his address, the Niger state Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Teachers, Comrade Ibrahim Umar said the strategic plan workshop is meant to chart a new path for the organization and transform the NUT ENDWELL towards securing the social economic well-being of its members before and after retirement.

    He said that the NUT ENDWELL has 23,184 members drawn from primary, post-primary and other education agencies in the state, adding that the ENDWELL Micro-finance Bank has established a capital base of N100 million.

  • Ganduje: Kwankwaso’s foreign scholarship scheme fraudulent

    Ganduje: Kwankwaso’s foreign scholarship scheme fraudulent

    Kano State Governor Umar Ganduje has alleged that the foreign scholarship scheme of former Governor Musa Kwankwaso is a scam.

    According to Ganduje, instead of following due process to secure admissions for the students, the government engaged the services of “a contractor who collects money improperly from both the government and the institutions, turning the admission exercise into a racket”.

    “When they want to pay bursaries and school fees, they give the contractor, who in turn takes his share before remitting the money to the students and institutions.”

    The governor spoke when he received executives of the National Association of Kano state Students (NAKSS) in his office.

    He reiterated that such arrangement was fraudulent and unacceptable to his administration, adding that he would regularise the scholarship process so the students could continue with their studies conveniently.

    “While some states are withdrawing their students because of recession, we are sustaining the foreign scholarship until our children complete their studies and return home,” Ganduje said.

    He said his government inherited a huge liability of unpaid scholarships for students in foreign universities, noting that though efforts were made to settle some, about N3 billion was outstanding.

    He berated his predecessor for not paying for the local scholarship, running into four years, lamenting that outstanding claim by students in private universities was over N2 billion, besides the amount due to students in public universities.

    Ganduje urged the students to shun machinations of those he said “obstructed education instead of promoting it”.

    NAKSS President Aliyu Muhammad Rano said his members from the association’s 57 chapters support the government’s cancellation of free education because it was unrealistic.

  • ‘N100b debt to local contractors fraudulent’

    ‘N100b debt to local contractors fraudulent’

    The Delta State Government has disowned a large chunk of the N100,916,022,334.67 billion debt it is said to owe local contractors.
    It said a review of the local debts showed that the state’s contractual obligations to contractors might not have exceed N50 billion.
    The government assured that its debts to contractors would be reduced after the completion of the current verification and renegotiation with key contractors
    Finance Commissioner David Edebvie spoke yesterday in Asaba, the state capital, during a ministerial media briefing.
    He said the state’s debt to local contractors was exaggerated, adding that after a review of the contracts, many contracts would be cancelled.
    The commissioner said large scale fraud was discovered in the Osubi Airport project, following a scrutiny of debts owed local contractors by his office.
    Edebvie said his office discovered “double-counting” in the award for the runway and expansion as well as the upgrade of the Osubi Airport.
    According to him, the government will begin discussions with the three local contractors awarded the contract.
    Edebvie said the Ifeanyi Okowa administration would invite the three major contractors for discussions and records to prove the fraud.