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How herbalist defrauded Korean national of N30m, by witness

By Matthew Ogune, Abuja
20 June 2019   |   4:05 am
Prosecution witness, Dare Folarin, has told Justice Mahmud Abdulgafar of Kwara State High Court sitting in Ilorin how a self-acclaimed herbalist...

Prosecution witness, Dare Folarin, has told Justice Mahmud Abdulgafar of Kwara State High Court sitting in Ilorin how a self-acclaimed herbalist, Jamiu Isiaka, defrauded a Korean national, Keun Sig Kim, of about N30 million in an oil and gas contract scam.

Isiaka was arraigned on June 14, 2019 for impersonating the Group Managing Director (GMD) of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Maikanti Baru, and Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the President, Femi Adesina, to hoodwink his victim.

He is facing a four-count charge of impersonation, forgery and obtaining under false pretence, in the guise of helping Kim secure an NNPC approval/marketing form and licence to buy crude oil in Nigeria.

At the resumed sitting yesterday, Folarin, the second-in-command at EFCC’s Ilorin office, testifying as the first prosecution witness, narrated how Isiaka used the names of top senior government officials to deceive Kim.

He said: “A petition was written to the executive chairman of the EFCC by the complainant, in which he (Kim) alleged that some fraudsters collected over N30 million from him, all in the name of helping him secure licence from NNPC.

“The herbalist sent several documents, which he claimed emanated from the NNPC and had the names of some top government functionaries like the GMD of NNPC, Dr. Maikanti Baru; Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina; commissioner with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mrs. Amina Zakari, among others.

“Several foreign currencies were paid into Isiaka’s domiciliary account in UBA by the petitioner, and the bank confirmed that the defendant is the sole signatory to that account, from which he made the withdrawal through a written instruction.”

Folarin further told the court that in the course of investigating the petition, the EFCC wrote to the NNPC to confirm the genuineness or otherwise of the documents Isiaka sent to Kim.

“They replied us that all the documents were fake,” he said.

He further told the court that under interrogation, Isiaka claimed that he travelled to Ijebu-Igbo in Ogun State, to buy the skull of a lion for N400,000, the skin of elephant for N500,000 and vulture for N330,000 among other items to conduct sacrifice for Kim.

Justice Abdulgafar adjourned the case till June 25, 2019.

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