The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has charged two Nigerians for $6.2million wire fraud after attempts to scam Americans of $25.2million.

The defendants are accused of defrauding nearly two dozen public and private entities around the United States, including at least one in Oregon.

The Department of Justice (DoJ) indictment unsealed in federal court charged Efeturi Ariawhorai a.k.a Efeturi Simeon, 35, a citizen of Nigeria and Vanuatu.

The other is Ikenna Nwajiaku, 41, believed to be residing in or near Lagos. The FBI declared them fugitives.

Ariawhorai and Nwajiaku face 11-count bordering on conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Quinn Harrington said federal law enforcement is determined to pursue cyber criminals and retrieve money mistakenly sent to unknown bank accounts.

The Cyber and National Security Unit Head at U.S. Attorney’s Office for Oregon said when in doubt, anyone who thinks they are the victim of a cyber crime should report to the FBI.

Special Agent in Charge Kieran L. Ramsey said the level of greed it takes to steal from schools and hospitals, especially during the pandemic, “is beyond disturbing”.

“We were able to recover the total loss of nearly $3million for a victim in Oregon and keep that money out of the hands of criminals”, Ramsey disclosed.

The indictment said from June 2019 until January 2021, Ariawhorai and Nwajiaku conspired with others to defraud school districts, universities, colleges, and hospitals.

The duo contacted organizations by email, impersonated employees of the targeted companies or professionals and convinced them to send payments to bank accounts controlled by third parties.

Ariawhorai and Nwajiaku attempted to defraud 20 victim organizations out of more than $25million;15 lost a combined $6.2 million as a result of the scheme.

The alleged crimes are punishable by up to 20 years in prison and three years supervised release. The case, investigated by the FBI, and is being prosecuted by AUSA Harrington.

Dailypost 

23 Nigerian startups have been selected among the 60 candidates for the second cohort of Google for Startups Black Founders Fund (BFF) for Africa.

Speaking at the unveiling of the cohorts yesterday in Abuja, Google’s Head of Startup Ecosystem, Folarin Aiyegbusi, said each of the selected startups will receive support in the form of a 6-month training programme that includes access to a network of mentors to assist in tackling challenges that are unique to them.

Folarin, while stating that the participants will receive a total of $4million in funding and support to enable them to scale up their ongoing work, said they will also be part of tailored workshops, support networks and community-building sessions.

“The 60 grantees will also get non-dilutive awards of between $50,000 and $100,000 and up to $200,000 in Google Cloud credit.”

He added that the grantees are made up of 50 per cent women-led businesses that specialise in sectors like fintech; healthcare, e-commerce, logistics, agritech, education, hospitality and smart cities.

“The top five countries with the most startups selected for the program are Nigeria with twenty-three grantees, Kenya with twelve grantees, Rwanda with six grantees, South Africa with five grantees and Uganda with four grantees. Botswana and Senegal have one selected startup each, Cameroon and Ghana both have three grantees each while Ethiopia has two selected grantees.”

Dailytrust 

Apostle Johnson Suleman of the Omega Fire Ministries has said Nigerians do not trust Igbos because they don’t support themselves.

The cleric, while preaching in his church, said Igbos tear themselves down at any given opportunity.

Citing reference of how Igbos have fought against each other, Suleman said an Igbo Senate President, Evan Enwerem was 

removed by another Igbo man, Chuba Okadigbo.

According to him, Okadigbo was also replaced by Anyim Pius Anyim.

The clergyman explained that someone who could sell his brother would not be trusted by anyone.

‘’Somebody from the South, somebody from the East. You betray your people. Look at this agitation for Biafra. Who are the 

people attacking Biafra most, Igbos. Shameless Igbos.

“Am I in support of Nigeria dividing, No! Am I in support of Nigeria separating, No. Do I believe we should be together? 

Yes. But even if you don’t agree with the man who is your brother, should you say it publicly if you are not a fool? Can’t 

you say it amongst your people?” He said.

He also alleged that if an Igbo man employs an Igbo boy in his shop, the boy will wreck him.

“He will carry all the man’s money, he will buy land. He wouldn’t wait to be settled.

“The problem of Igbo is Igbo. I repeat it, if you sell your brother, even the buyers will not trust you,” he stated. 

Dailypost

Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Farouq

The Federal Government says it has concluded plans to give interest-free loans to 98,000 beneficiaries of its Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme 2.0 nationwide.

The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar-Farouq, disclosed this in a statement by her Special Assistant on Media, Nneka Anibeze, in Abuja on Wednesday.

Umar-Farouq said that this decision was reached following the final verification of Phase 1 applicants, who qualified and were selected to benefit from small loans ranging from N50,000 to N300,000.

She further said that all the beneficiaries of GEEP 2.0 would receive congratulatory and sensitisation text messages in the coming days informing them of their qualification.

According to Umar-Farouq, the money given to the beneficiaries of the empowerment programme is a loan and not a grant and must be repaid within nine months.

“The GEEP 2.0 is a loan scheme designed by the Federal Government to provide financial inclusion and give credit access to the poor and vulnerable individuals including persons with disabilities.

“It also covers persons at the bottom of the economic pyramid, who are engaged in small scale commercial activities under its three flagship schemes.

“These three flagship schemes are MarketMoni, TraderMoni and FarmerMoni.

“Tradermoni targets uplifting under-privileged and marginalised youths aged between 18 and 40 years in Nigeria by providing them with loans of N50,000.

“MarketMoni targets underprivileged and marginalised women aged between 18 and 55 years like widows, divorcees among other vulnerable groups and they get interest-free loans of N50,000 payable within six to nine months.

“While FarmerMoni is for Nigerian farmers aged between 18 and 55 years in rural areas that operate in the agricultural space,’’ she explained.

The minister said that these farmers were provided with loans of N300,000 for farm inputs, adding that the scheme had 12 months including three months moratorium and nine months repayment period.

“All qualified beneficiaries will soon receive their disbursement alerts. We wish to remind all qualified beneficiaries that this is a loan payable without interest.

“It is not a grant or a government windfall. It is a soft interest-free loan that must be paid back within nine months,’’ she said.

Umar-Farouq said that the Ministry was planning a roll–out of the programme nationwide after which an enumeration exercise to capture beneficiaries’ bio-data would take place.

(NAN)

The Nigerian government through the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC) has said the restriction of Nigerians from travelling abroad is a blessing to the nation’s economy and domestic tourism.

Folarin Coker, NTDC’s boss, made the assertion in Abuja on Wednesday.

“If Dubai Emirate Airline is not coming to Nigeria, Nigerians will not pack their naira, change it into dollars to go and buy tickets,” Mr Coker said.

The governments of Nigeria and the United Arab Emirates have been engaged in a diplomatic spat going by the latter’s set of stringent measures to deny Nigerians free access to their country, citing COVID-19 concerns.

Though the Nigerian government insists Nigerians have the rights to travel to the Arabian gulf under extant international laws, its top tourism official calls UAE’s bluff, saying it will save Nigeria the much needed forex to boost local economy.

“We pay a foreign airline to go to a foreign country and stay in a foreign hotel. The naira is N510 to one dollar; let Nigerians stay at home and learn to appreciate the country,’’ he argued.

Coker spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria on the level of the corporation’s preparation toward the South-South Stakeholders Interactive Forum.

Themed “The Use of Digital Technology to Revamp the Tourism and Hospitality Industry amid COVID-19 and Security Challenges in Nigeria,” the forum is scheduled to be held between August 26 and August 27 in Calabar.

Speaking further, the director-general said that the restriction of people from travelling abroad due to COVID-19 had boosted domestic tourism as most Nigerians no longer traveled out of the country.

According to him, Nigerians now look for alternative places within the country to relax and spend their holidays or weekends.

“There are no foreign holidays now, we are all going to enjoy our local music, film, food, fashion, theatre and dance. I think COVID-19 has done the Nigerian tourism industry good,” he said.

Coker said the NTDC would take the message of domestic tourism through the use of technology to the upcoming South-South Stakeholders interactive forum in Calabar.

According to him, the idea is to encourage the stakeholders in the tourism industry to ensure their businesses are driven by technology.

“We are trying to encourage the stakeholders in the entire value chain of the tourism ecosystem that there is a new way and is driven by technology.

“So, we are encouraging them to take advantage of technology to promote domestic tourism.

“There is the need for them to show Nigerians what is good in the country to stand a chance with our own tourism assets rather than something abroad,” Coker said. Saharareporters