NISS foils $110m bank fraud, robbery

Addis Ababa, May 11, 2020 (FBC) –The National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) said it has thwarted banking fraud and robbery attempts worth $110 million.

The attempt was made by a Nigerian man, named Adeymi Aderemi Abdulrafiu, in collaboration with other Ethiopian nationals, using an international money transfer scheme, said the intelligence in a statement sent to FBC yesterday.

The suspects were arrested on May 9, 2020 while trying to withdraw more than 60.9 million birr in the first round from the bank account of Neil Charles, a resident of California, at the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia’s Finefine branch.

The Nigerian man has been living in Addis Ababa at Bole area for more than one year by hiring Ethiopian information technology experts to achieve its mission, the statement indicated.

A total of six people, including the Nigerian man and five other Ethiopians were arrested so far. The intelligence is now hunting down the other fraud suspects.