The
Lagos State Police Command says it has discovered a fake embassy
operating in Lagos where many innocent members of the public had
allegedly been defrauded.
The main suspect
The Rapid Response Squad (RRS) of Lagos State Police Command has
discovered a fake embassy operating in Lagos where many innocent members
of the public have been swindled.
The Policemen attached to the squad swooped on them; two Chinese
and two Nigerians were apprehended during the raid on their office
situated inside an hotel, Golden Point and Suite, on Duduyemi Street in
Ejigbo.
The Chinese: Liu Honyang, 47, Sun Xinai, 49; and their Nigerian
collaborators, Oriyomi Olawale, 47 and Desmond Chinedu, 25, conspired
and swindled Nigerians who had planned to travel out of the country to
seek greener pastures.
It was gathered that the operatives acted on the intelligence
reports received from members of the public about the illicit act of
these Chinese using Nigeria citizens as cover.
Sources revealed that the Policemen lodged in the hotel for two days monitoring their activities before eventual arrest.
After the arrest, some of their victims showed up at the RRS’s
Headquarters, recounting how they were duped respectively, hence their
deportation from Trinidad and Tobago.
The suspects
According to one of the victims, Adekunle Adefuye, “I met these
people (suspects) through one of their agents, Dorcas Slyver. She is a
daughter to my brother’s pastor in Abeokuta. I told her my intentions
and zeal to travel to United States of America.
"After a while, she told me to come to Lagos that she can
procure the American visa for me. On getting to Lagos, she took me to
these Chinese where I was told that I should go to Trinidad and Tobago.
"They persuaded me to go Trinidad and Tobago that it was easier to secure employment with at least 3,000 dollars as salary.”
He continued; “Initially, I declined to take their bait,
insisting that I preferred America to Trinidad and Tobago (T&T). But
in the long run, they brainwashed me into agreeing to go to Trinidad
and Tobago. It was at this point, I was told that I would pay N1.3
million for the whole process including visa processing and flight fare.
"The payment was made in installment. N376,000 for Visa, ticket
N850,000, accommodation N39,000 and Visa Fee N33,000, which I obliged
and paid all the monies into Dorcas’ GTB Accounts: 0130671906.”
He revealed that he and another person were rounded up immediately
they got to Trinidad and Tobago by the country’s immigration officers
for coming into the country with fake visas.
"We spent two days underground inside the Police custody. They treated us like criminals trying to enter the country illegally," he added.
"We left Lagos enroute Lome on October 19th, 2016. From Lome to
Sao Paulo in Brazil. From there, we moved to Panama where we boarded
another plane to Trinidad and Tobago.
"On getting to the country, we were arrested by their security
operatives accusing us of entering their country with fake visa and
documents. We were locked up for 48 hours before we were deported on
October 22nd, 2016 and arrived Nigeria the following day,” he added.
Adefuye stressed, “When we arrived Nigeria, we didn’t let them
know we have been deported. They thought possibly we were lucky to have
entered the T&T without any challenge.
"It was one Good Samaritan that came to our rescue in Trinidad
and Tobago, who pleaded for us when they threatened to prosecute us
before we were sent back to Nigeria."
On his part, Rasheed Ololade, said that it was same agent, Dorcas
Sylver, who persuaded him to go to T&T too, adding that all the
money he paid amounted to N1.3M into her account.
“I met Adefuye at their office in Golden Point Hotel and
Suites, Ejigbo in Lagos. And we became good friends henceforth…. We were
only fortunate to have escaped being jailed in T&T for coming into
the country with fake documents and Visas.
"They beat hell out of us and starved us for the whole two days
before fortune smiled at us. The Police in T and T collected all our
belongings including money and threatened to kill us. In fact, they were
abusing Nigerians calling us unprinted names.
"In fact, we were lucky to have been deported because that country is a junkyard for drug addicts and dealers,” he lamented.
“Most of the Nigerians we met there were barely recognisable,
and were high on drugs. One of them, confided in me that he was
struggling to survive by dealing in drug and that he has resorted to
fate, since coming home was difficult," he added.
Another victim, Friday Owah, who was at their office when they were
arrested, said that he just paid N600,000 after being convinced to
jettison his Europe trip for Trinindad & Tobago.
According to him, “I was introduced to them by one man, Mr
Oscar. I paid directly to Madam Sun’s GT Bank account. She promised to
secure the visa for me within a space of two weeks. By the time the visa
was ready, I was unable to eke-out another N850,000 for flight ticket,
which made the T&T visa to get expired.
"I went back to see her to help me again for same visa. And she
told me to pay another N150, 000. It was after I had made another
payment of N150,000 to her account that someone told me they don’t
accept stamp visa but only electronic visa is allowed in that country.”
“I went back to explain to her but she denied the information
but still insisted that stamp visa is acceptable in that country. Then, I
told her that I was no longer interested in T&T and she should
return my money. I came to their office that fateful day to demand for
the money when the Rapid Response Squad team came to arrest them,” he added.
Another victim, Lukmon Odeyemi, a footballer by profession, also
parted away with N125, 000 for Trinidad and Tobago’s en route visa.
“The lady (Sun Xinai) charged me N400, 000 but I was only able to raise
N125,000 to her with the hope of balancing her by month end,” he noted.
In his reaction, Liu Hongyag, one of the arrested suspects, said that he only helped her boss to do paper works and documents.
"We operated as separate entity as travel agency under the
company's name, Golden Point Hotel and Tour but our office is located
inside the hotel. Sun Xinai is my sister, and she is the director of
the travel agency. I only do paper works and documents for visa
procurement. I don’t know how she secures visa for people. All what I
know is that she travels to Abuja and comes back with that stamped visa.
I am a phone repairer,” he stressed.
Our source posited that investigation has further revealed that the
Trinidad and Tobago’s Embassy has confirmed the Visa fake and the two
Chinese agents unknown.
But Sun Xinai, the major suspect, noted that she was unaware that
stamped visa for Trindad and Tobago was no longer tenable in that
country anymore.
Responding to RRS's visa enquiry, the High Commission of the
Republic of Trinidad and Tobago in its letter dated 7th December, 2016,
referenced ABJ: 6/2/3/14, read in part:
"...the Mission can categorically confirm that the individual
SUN XINAI who is claiming to be an agent of this Mission is unknown to
us. Furthermore, this Mission does not use the services of an 'agent' in
any capacity whatsoever and has never done so in the past either.
With regard to the authenticity of the attached visas, the
Mission can also categorically confirm that those visas were not issued
at this High Commission and are clearly fraudulent.
"Noteworthy too is the fact that in June 2015, this Mission
stopped the practice of issuing stamped visas in passports in favour of
individual electronic visas issued from our country's capital Port of
Spain.”
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