Fraud suspect dies in EFCC custody

Mr

Desmond Nunugwo, a fraud suspect in
the custody of the Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission, has died barely after six
hours in the custody of anti graft commission.
The spokesman for the commission, Mr.
Wilson Uwujaren, said in a statement on
Friday that the suspect was arrested for
allegedly duping a woman of N91m.
Nunugwo was alleged to have collected the
money under the pretext that he had high net
worth business associates in Dubai, United
Arab Emirates, who were on the verge of
buying Nicon Insurance and convinced her of
their disposition to help her stock fish
business.
Consequently, she wired N91m into
Nunugwo’s nominated account (Mainagge
General Merchants) in Diamond Bank.
According to the EFCC, the suspect was
arrested following a petition from the woman
who alleged that he had become evasive after
collecting the money.
The deceased was subsequently arrested and
taken into custody around 5.30pm on
Thursday. Six hours, however, Nunugwo was
said to have fallen ill and was rushed to a
hospital where he died.
The statement read in part, “A suspect under
investigation by the EFCC passed away on
June 10, 2016, few hours after he was taken
into custody. His demise was confirmed at
the hospital where he was rushed after he
suddenly took ill.
“The Late Nunugwu allegedly fraudulently
obtained N91m from an acquaintance after he
tricked her into believing that he had high net
worth business associates in Dubai, United
Arab Emirates who were on the verge of
buying Nicon Insurance and convinced her of
their disposition to help her stock fish
business.
“Nunugwo was arrested in Utako, Abuja at
about 5.33pm on Thursday, June 9, 2016. His
statement was taken, where he admitted
receiving the money from the complainant,
with the additional information that he
transferred N30m of the said money to
Norway. But he could not explain the
whereabouts of the balance of N61m.
“The suspect was detained at about 7.30pm,
in the absence of anybody to take him on bail.
Six hours later, he suddenly complained of
discomfort and was rushed to the hospital
where he was pronounced dead.”
The EFCC said the incident had already been
reported at the Wuse Police Station, where
investigation into the cause of the sudden
death had commenced.