An investigation which commenced in the early fall of 2012, led to the arrest of 30 people whom were involved in credit card fraud, of which 20 Nigerians were apprehended too.
In a small county in the United States known as Hudson County, the persecutor’s office received complaints from credit card owners as far as California of fraudulent retail purchases in their name coming from this county, according to Jersey Journal.
Authorities say this arrested persons used a process known as “punching”, which illegally transfers electronic account information from the magnetic strip’s credit card to a counterfeit card. This then provided to “strikers”, to make purchases.
Investigation has identified nearly 1,000 victims across the country and millions of dollars in phony transactions, authorities added.
Authorities also say; luxury cars, expensive jewelries and other high end expenses, and also wiring money to accounts in Nigeria were ways these arrested people spent their fraudulent cash.
Defendants charged with money laundering, theft by deception, wrongful impersonation and conspiracy include: Bolaji Ola, 30, of Sayreville; Olamide Otti, 27, of Queens; Akintunde Adeyemi, 28, of East Orange; David Brown, 27, of Parlin; Adegbola Adedeji, 31, of Parlin; Oluwaseun Jato, 23, of Hillside; Oluwasola Diji, 31, of Westbury, NY; Oladapo Araromi, 26, of Elizabeth; and Bertrand Ahaneku, 25, of South Orange.
Those charged with theft by deception, wrongful impersonation, and conspiracy include: Oluwaseun Adekoya, 25, of Sewaren; Henry Abdul, 25, of Union; Babatunde Oyefeso, 27, Union; Michael Assih, 24, of East Orange; John Orubo, 32, of Brooklyn; Idris Soyemi, 25, of Brooklyn; Imrahim Akaba, 23, of Piscataway; Vladimir Francois, 27, of Newark; Yves Desir, 29, of Irvington; Aglaide Alzuphar, 23, of Newark; Kossi Klutse, 25, of Newark; Evon Morris, 23, of East Orange; Fontessa Foreman.
Shame on these Nigerians! Hopefully, they won’t be escaping back to Nigeria for any sort of pardon. Justice must be served. Unfortunately, this is yet another reason to increase the xenophobia of Nigerians around the world.