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Nigerians arrested with fake dollars
The Commercial Bank Circle of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Friday made a series of raids and arrested three Nigerian nationals, Casmir, Frank and Clifford who were allegedly part of an international counterfeit US currency scam.
ESTEEMED SIR,
WE ARE CASMIR, FRANK AND CLIFFORD, ELDEST SONS OF LATE SANI ABACHA... |
The FIA team also seized a large quantity of counterfeit US dollars wrapped in black protective coating and bottles of solution apparently used to remove the protective coating. Also confiscated were bogus certificates purportedly issued by the US Mint and US Embassy.
| WE GOT YOUR NAME FROM BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU. WE REQUIRE YOUR GRACIOUS ASSISTANCE IN A MATTER OF MUTUAL BENEFIT... |
A few days ago, the accused approached a local businessman in the Blue Area. Prince Kala, who claimed to be the son of a minister in Sierra Leone,
| That'd be Frank, no doubt... |
tried to convince the businessman that he had $2 million in protective coating. Prince Kala said he needed $200,000 to buy the solution that would remove the protective coating. The FIA raided and apprehended the fraudster. Various bags containing the counterfeit currency and bottles of solution were recovered from a hotel in G-10. At this point, men named Casmir and Clifford were also arrested. US embassy staff were contacted by the FIA and were informed that the US government does not protect currency using a black sealant.
| Everybody knows we use orange sealant. Wotta buncha maroons... |
The scam was apparently concocted in Nigeria and has been going on for several years in South Asia and Asian Pacific regions. The gangs lure people by offering the chance to get rich quick. They target businessmen and retired military officers. They convince victims to give them the money to buy solution by washing some counterfeit currency with a sample of the solution, the director of the FIA Commercial Banking Circle told Daily Times.
| $200,000 for a jug of solution? |
He said that the solution is so irritating that becomes difficult for the victim to keep their eyes open. The fraudsters switch the fake currency with real currency that they have hidden in their sleeves and claim that the protective solution washed the coating away.
| Takes a mightly long sleeve to conceal $2 million... |
This process is so convincing that people usually fall for the story and invest the required money, he said. After receiving money for the solution, the fraudsters vanish. The bag allegedly filled with US currency is found to be full of nothing but black paper cut in the size and shape of dollars and wrapped in plastic. Bogus certificates from the US Mint or US embassy are also in the bag.
Posted by: Fred 2004-05-29 |
