By Chizoba Ogbeche with agencies
Th e Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has commenced investigation towards unravelling how a suspect, Yasir Salihu Abdullahi, came by 849 Automated Teller Machine (ATM) cards of various Nigerian banks and the reason the cards were being shipped out of the country. Abdullahi was arrested at the Malam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano, on Friday August 3, 2017, while trying to board an Egypt Air fl ight headed for Dubai, United Arab Emirates. He was said to have been intercepted after a scan of his luggage by offi cers of the Nigeria Customs Service revealed the suspicious items and subsequently alerted the EFCC offi ce in Kano. Blueprint gathered that on arrival, operatives of the commission discovered that the suspect had 490 Guaranty Trust Bank cards; 287 ATM cards of Access Bank, 49 of Eco Bank cards; 10 UBA cards; six Stanbic IBTC Bank cards; 4 Zenith Bank cards; one Sterling, Standard Chartered and First City Monument Banks cards respectively. Another suspected fraudster, Ma Yongbin alias Suleiman Yunusa, a 46-year old Chinese national was also arrested on August 3, 2017, by aviation security offi cials at the same airport as he tried to board Egypt Air fl ight to China. He was arrested at the baggage checking point, where he was found to have in his possession N305,000 in N5 denomination. He was eventually handed over to the EFCC for further investigation. A source at the commission said the two suspects have made useful statements and were granted administrative bail while investigations continue
