The Police Special Fraud Unit (PSFU) in Ikoyi, Lagos, has arrested a businessman, Moses Odeleye, for an alleged N816 million fraud.
In a statement on Tuesday, the spokesperson for the unit, Eyitayo Johnson confirmed the suspect was arrested on 24 May, after weeks of discrete investigation.
“He was arrested in connection with the forgery of 11 Local Purchase Orders (LPOs) of five multinational companies operating in Nigeria and one agency of the Federal Government.
“The suspect paraded himself on social media as a successful contractor with interests in civil engineering/construction, real estate and supply/importation of heavy engineering equipment.
“BEEDEL, as the suspect is popularly known, operates in connivance with former and current procurement staff of the companies whose LPOs were used to perpetrate the fraud.
“BEEDEL forged the LPOs of these companies, government agency and approached numerous banks and investment companies with a proposal to finance the LPOs which he cleverly tenured to be paid between 30-60 days, to make the LPO financing appear juicy.
Mr. Johnson said the suspect who is the MD of BEEDEL Strategic Investment Company was able to fraudulently obtain N816 million from two finance companies.
He was also reported to have spent the money on an extravagant lifestyle.
The BEEDEL MD mastered the art of using cloned LPOs to consecutively secure huge sums over a period of more than eight years, according to the PSFU spokesperson.
“He uses money from one bank or finance company to settle his commitments to another bank/finance company, to maintain the fraudulent cycle of robbing Peter to pay Paul.”
