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Chinese seeking road contract pays fraudsters N29.6m bribe

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Two members of a fraudulent gang have been arrested by the police for allegedly parading themselves as officials of the Kaduna State Government to commit fraud.

The suspects are Adamu Garuba, who impersonated a lawmaker in the state and his sister-in-law, Rita Waziri, who acted as the Commissioner for Works.

They reportedly connived with one Mayowa to swindle a Chinese seeking award of a road contract in the state out of N29.6m.

City Round learnt that Mayowa had approached the victim identified as Su at the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, in July 2018, telling him that the Kaduna State Government was searching for contractors to rehabilitate a 14-kilometre road in the Kagoro area of the state.

Mayowa, who is said to be currently serving a jail term in Lagos, introduced Su to Garuba as honourable Ibrahim, the Chairman, Budget and Planning Committee of the House.

Garuba reportedly requested Su to pay N1.6m to register his company with the Kaduna State Public Procurement Authority.

After paying the sum, the suspects reportedly invited Su to a makeshift office on the premises of the state government secretariat, with their pictures hung on the wall.

A member of the syndicate, identified as Captain who is still at large, also paraded himself as Commissioner for Finance.

“The sum of N28m was collected from Su after negotiation of the contract and a fake contract letter was issued to him. Few months after, he became suspicious of the deal and contacted Garuba demanding a refund,” a police source said.

Su was said to have petitioned the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, who directed operatives of the Intelligence Response Team led by DCP Abba Kyari, to track down the suspects.

It was learnt that the team arrested Waziri recently and she led them to Garuba.

Garuba, a 51-year-old native of Kagoma, in the Jamal Local Government Area of the state, said he got N15m as his share of the fraud which he used to build a house.

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