The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arrested a former Kaduna State Government contractor and official of Formal Act Legacy Limited over an alleged N30 billion fraud.
According to EFCC Spokesperson Dele Oyewale, the suspect was previously a consultant with the state government but had his contract terminated due to alleged fraudulent activities.
Despite the termination, the suspect allegedly paraded himself as the authentic contractor to the 23 local government areas in Kaduna State and defrauded Athena United Charity Foundation, FICCORD, with affiliation to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Office.
The EFCC received no less than 251 complaints against the suspect.
Oyewale said that the suspect allegedly informed his victims that he had a 2020 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Kaduna State Government to source intervention grants from global donor agencies for funding LGA projects in the state and supporting the actualization of SDGs.
Investigations, however revealed that the suspect’s 2020 MoU with the state government was terminated in October 2023 due to default on the terms of the MoU.
The suspect allegedly engaged in unauthorised award of fictitious contracts worth approximately N30 billion, convincing victims to supply items meant for construction of hospitals, motorized boreholes, hospital beds, and mattresses, drugs, and vaccines.
The suspect would receive the items on behalf of the Kaduna State Government, sell some, and divert the proceeds to his personal use.
Items recovered from the suspect include Toyota Hilux pickup vans, ambulances, buses, dispatch motorcycles, caches of drugs and vaccines for children, stacks of hospital beds and mattresses, and heavy-duty generators.
The EFCC is collaborating with NAFDAC and the Kaduna State Ministry of Health to evaluate the cache of medicines found in his storage facilities.
According to Oyewale, NAFDAC official Umar Suleiman confirmed that some of the drug manufacturers were registered with NAFDAC, while some were unregistered.
Some of the medicines were still within shelf life, while others had expired, and some were outright counterfeits.
Abubakar Balarabe, a pharmacist and Team Leader, Ministry of Health Kaduna State, also noted that some of the medicines had expired and the warehouse where they were stored fell below standard.
The suspect would be charged to court as soon as the investigation is concluded.
