The Nigeria Police in Enugu State have arrested three suspects, including a banker, for allegedly stealing N4 million from the account of an Australia-based Nigerian by forging his account details.

According to DSP Daniel Ndukwe, the command’s spokesperson, the suspects—whose names were withheld—used fraudulent means to access the victim’s account. One of the suspects, a staff member of a commercial bank with 17 years of service, played a central role in bypassing verification processes.

The case came to light when the bank’s management detected irregularities in September 2024 and promptly alerted the police. Investigations revealed that the first suspect found a bag containing SIM cards in October 2023. He later discovered one of the SIMs belonged to the victim and used USSD banking codes to withdraw funds.

When account access was blocked, the suspect enlisted the help of the banker, who advised him to forge an affidavit and alter his National Identification Number (NIN) details to match those of the victim. A complicit NIN enrolment agent was paid N40,000 to facilitate the illegal changes.

With the altered details, the suspect reactivated the victim’s account and withdrew over N1.6 million, sharing N50,000 with the banker for his assistance. The fraud was eventually detected by the bank’s Ohafia, Abia State branch, leading to the suspects’ arrest on October 18.

The Commissioner of Police, Kanayo Uzuegbu, commended the bank for reporting the fraud and urged the public to safeguard personal information to avoid such incidents. Investigations are ongoing, and the suspects are expected to face charges.