N1.7bn Fraud: ICPC Asks Court To Remand Head Of Disability Cooperative In Prison

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has requested a Senior Magistrate Court, Wuse Zone 2, Abuja, to grant an order for the remand of the National Coordinator, Federal Civil Service Staff with Disabilities Multipurpose Cooperative Society, Alhaji Iliasu Olarewaju Abdul-Rauf in prison custody over his alleged involvement in N1.7 billion fraud.

Abdul-Rauf who is currently under arrest by the Commission is alleged to have been involved in multiple corrupt acts including bribery, breach of trust, criminal misappropriation and other frauds running into hundreds of millions of naira.

After his arrest, a search of his house by operatives of the Commission revealed 14 females between the ages of 11 and 33 years, locked up in one of the rooms and were evacuated, after which they were handed over to the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) for further investigation.

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The suspect who is also facing multiple charges earlier pressed on him by ICPC was said to have been on the run from some other security agencies in Nigeria.

He is alleged to have used his position as the National Coordinator of persons with disabilities cooperative society to hoodwink contractors into donating cash and items such as wheelchairs, crutches, etc. as “Corporate Social Responsibility” (CSR) for non-existent contracts.

Some of the contractors are said to have paid as much as N50 million as the “CSR”, while others delivered large numbers of items to him.

The Commission, in the motion filed before the court, stated that Abdul-Rauf allegedly failed to rehabilitate ‘disability centres” across the country after collecting N1.7 billion from various contractors under the guise of awarding contracts for the project.

ICPC further noted that Abdul-Rauf had a history of running from the law, having absconded after an earlier charge had been filed against him by the Commission. The motion, therefore, added that the remand would prevent his escape a second time pending the completion of investigation.

The Commission hereby uses this opportunity to urge contractors and businessmen to always verify the genuineness and authenticity of contracts offered or proposed to them with relevant government agencies in order not to fall victim of fraudsters.