Canadian Police arrests two Nigerians over $10m fraud

Four Nigerians are in the midst of an ongoing investigations into credit card theft and stolen mail, Canadian authorities said in a statement on Tuesday.

Adedayo Ogundana, 45, also known as Oladipupo Ogund; Adekunle Johnson Omitiran, 37; Duro Akintola, 44, of Toronto, who is also known as Michie Noah; and Emmanuel Salako, 47, who is also known as Gee Salaq, are said to be involved in fraud amounting to over $10m.

According to reports, Toronto police arrested Ogundana and Omitiran during an investigation which began in 2016.

Ogundana was arrested on December 13, 2016, and has been charged with two counts of fraud of over $5,000; 10 counts of fraud under $5,000; possession of property obtained by crime over $5,000; and possession of proceeds of crime. He will appear in court on Thursday.

World’s most expensive men’s cologne over $1000 for tiny bottle. Photo: City-News

Omitiran surrendered to police on April 27. He is charged with fraud of over $5,000; four counts of fraud under $5,000; two counts of identity theft; trafficking identity information; possession of credit cards obtained by crime; possession of proceeds of crime; and failure to comply with probation. He will appear in court on Friday.

Police believe that Omitiran had ties to people with “legitimate” access to identity information. Those people, police allege, sold information to Omitiran. Police are trying to track down those people.

A warrant has been issued for Akintola; while Salako, who has been indicted by the United States Postal Inspection Service in Chicago under the name George Salako, is also wanted in the U.S.

Police claimed the four used funds from identity theft and fraud to fund a lavish lifestyle that included $10,000 crocodile skin shoes and $150,000 watches.

Items seized during the investigation include 37 stolen credit cards, hundreds of pieces of presumably stolen mail, and a number of notebooks containing the personal information of at least 5,000 GTA residents.

“Thousands of individuals across the GTA have had their information compromised,” said Det. Const. Mike Kelly.

According to The Star, The evidence was found April 24 after police executed a search warrant at a Yorkville condominium that is believed to be “under the control” of Adekunle Johnson Omitiran.

Police also found $39,000 in cash, $310,000 worth of watches and about $390,000 worth of clothing, jewelry, accessories and liquor.

Sources: Toronto-based The Star; City News