Man arrested for withdrawing 11million naira from another person's account, He blames poverty

Felix Onyebuchi, a 56-year-old man, who is in police custody in Enugu for allegedly using cunning means to withdraw the sum of N11m from the account of a bank customer, has blamed "poverty and lack" for his venture into crime.

Enugu State commissioner of police, Mr. Nwodibo Ekechukwu, revealed that Onyebuchi was a core member of a sophisticated syndicate that specialised in stealing and manipulating bank data.

According to the police chief, the syndicate usually applied to mobile telecommunication service 
providers to 'welcome-back' registered phone numbers that belong to their victims.

In the process, according to Ekechukwu, they block the real account owners and, with the phone numbers, they gain access to sensitive personal information, including bank data.

Once they attain the relevant bank data, members of the syndicate are able to make withdrawals from their victims' bank accounts, the commissioner of police added.

Ekechukwu further explained that Onyebuchi's arrest followed complaints made by a Port-Harcourt-based customer of an old generation bank, who notified the police of a series of unauthorised withdrawals from his account.

The victim, whose identity was not disclosed, had informed the police that the withdrawals were made from the Enugu branch of his bank, which was also not named.

The police commissioner added that, following investigations, Onyebuchi was arrested while he was attempting to withdraw N50m from another potential victim's account.

Onyebuchi is currently in police custody, as further investigation into his activities, and that of his syndicate, continues.