The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arrested a 63-year-old man, Ernesto Chukwudum Chukwukamma, for allegedly impersonating a journalist attached to the Commission and extorting N2 million from a petitioner under false pretence.
In a statement released on Monday, the EFCC revealed that Chukwukamma presented himself as a journalist working with the agency, claiming he had access to a report on the petitioner’s alleged involvement in the mismanagement of $4.5 billion during the winding down of the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF).
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According to the Commission, Chukwukamma threatened the petitioner and demanded money in exchange for halting further investigations.
He allegedly told the petitioner that other journalists from a Correspondents’ Chapel attached to the EFCC also had a report on the petitioner’s alleged theft of $4.5 billion in the process of winding up the PTF’s activities.
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The EFCC said Chukwukamma had already received N2 million from the petitioner before he was arrested while attempting to withdraw the funds.
“Chukwukamma, 63, was arrested for allegedly threatening the life of a petitioner and receiving financial inducement from him to stop the investigation of a $4.5 billion alleged Petroleum Trust Fund, PTF, fraud,” the