The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has announced the arrest of Emmanuel Dike Chidiebere, a suspect wanted by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
Wilson Uwujaren, the EFCC spokesperson who revealed this on Tuesday said Chidiebere was declared wanted for cybercrime and money laundering.
He was arrested by the anti-graft agency in Imo state on March 23.
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“The Enugu Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arrested Emmanuel Dike Chidiebere, a suspect on the watch list of the American Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for conspiracy, wire fraud and money laundering.
“Acting on verified intelligence, operatives of the Commission on Wednesday, March 23, 2022, tracked the suspect to Orlu Local Government Area of Imo State where he was arrested.
“Chidiebere is alleged to have defrauded some victims in America, Cote D’Ivoire and Poland of some undisclosed amount of money and went underground.
“Three of his accomplices are still at large,” the statement said.
His arrest comes weeks after the EFCC announced the arrest of another FBI-wanted Nigerian, Osondu Igwilo.
Igwilo was declared wanted in the US since 2018 for his alleged involvement in a $100 million fraud.
The EFCC said Igwilo was apprehended at a studio in the Sangotedo Ajah area of Lagos State alongside Okafor Chris, Nwodu Emmanuel and John Achukwu.
In its latest Internet crime report, the FBI ranked Nigeria 16th among 20 countries most affected by Internet crime in the world in 2020.
The top five crimes reported include phishing, non-payment/non-delivery, extortion, personal data breach and identity theft.
Excluding the US, the UK led among the most affected countries followed by Canada, India, Greece and Australia.
South Africa is the only other African country among the top 20, ranking sixth with 1,754 complaints.
Amos Abba is a journalist with the International Center for Investigative Reporting, ICIR, who believes that courageous investigative reporting is the key to social justice and accountability in the society.