By Diana Rose Wairumbi, wires.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arrested a Nigerian man for allegedly being in possession of $400,000 counterfeit notes, Nigeria’s anti-corruption agency said Tuesday.
Samson Otuedon confessed he operated a business that used fake dollar bills to extort of unsuspecting clients, Wilson Uwujaren, a spokesman for the EFCC said in a statement.
Investigations were launched into Otuedon’s activities in Nigeria’s north central state, Nasarawa after it received reports the group was producing fake dollar bills.
#Photo: Fake $400,000 bills recovered from Samson Otuedon, at Masaka, Karu Local Government Area of Nasarawa State. pic.twitter.com/NNRXOWwnWV
— EFCC Nigeria (@officialEFCC) April 9, 2018
Uwujaren stated that on Tuesday the anti-corruption agency had arrested several fake currency traders in northern Nigeria, a hub for foreign currency trading.
“Those conversant with currency trading in Nigeria know that most legal and illegal bureau de change operators come from the north,” said Uwujaren.
The suspect was arrested on Saturday and will be charged in court after investigations have been concluded, Uwujaren added.
The threat of counterfeiting dollar bills has continued to increase over the years as more nations adopt the US dollar as their national currency, a 2016 report from the United Secret State Service says.
U.S. officials have said the $100 bill is the most frequently counterfeited denomination of U.S. currency outside the United States due to its broad circulation overseas.
