An Ibadan Family Court sitting at Iyaganku remanded a fake doctor, Olarewaju Oludele (50), at the Agodi Correctional Centre on Thursday for allegedly causing the death of a baby boy.
He allegedly drowned the baby in a canal.
The magistrate, Mrs O. O. Ogunkanmi who did not take Oludele’s plea for lack of jurisdiction sent the case file to the Oyo State Directorate of Public Prosecution for legal advice.
She adjourned the matter till March 4 for mention.
Police arraigned Oludele before the court on a three-count charge of impersonation, abduction and murder.
Prosecuting counsel, Insp Gbemisola Adedeji told the court that Oludele committed the offence on Dec. 28, 2023 at His Mercy Hospital, Akinyele, Ibadan.
She said the fake doctor took the baby boy delivered of his mother in the hospital without her consent and drowned him in a canal.
Adedeji also told the court that Oludele falsely presented himself to the mother as a qualified doctor to defraud her and to defraud other members of the public.
The offences, she said, ran afoul of the Criminal Codes of Oyo State (2000) and were punishable by three years imprisonment for impersonation; 14 years for abduction and death sentence for murder.
A man, Igwe Gift Okechukwu who has been identified as a fake doctor has been arrested by operatives of the Nigeria Police Force for his involvement in criminal conspiracy, organ trafficking, fraud, cybercrime, stealing, impersonation, cheating, and identity theft.
It was gathered that operatives of the Force Criminal Investigation Department , Nasarawa state arrested the man in question following the suspect’s fraudulent activities in Owerri, Imo State.
The suspect, parading himself as Henry Ovie, a neurologist newly transferred to the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Owerri, tricked a point of sale (POS) operator, Anita Chinwe Mathias, into entering a code on her POS machine.
As a result, the entire sum of twenty-one million naira (N21,000,000) was withdrawn from her account, leading to a police report.
Force Public Relations Officer, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, disclosed the details of the arrest during a press conference in Abuja.
Adejobi revealed the suspect’s mode of operation, how he built trust with the victim, sent a significant amount to her account, and later tricked her into entering a code that facilitated the fraudulent withdrawal.
According to Adejobi, Anita, the complainant, narrated that the suspect used multiple identities and phone numbers, posing as Igwe Richard and Ovie Henry.
“She proceeded to state that on September 11, 2023, the suspect tricked her into entering a code on her POS machine, which she did due to the trust she had for him.
“After the suspect left her place, she noticed that all the money in her POS account was withdrawn, which amounted to the sum of twenty million naira (N21,000,000), and all efforts to reach out to the suspect proved abortive.
“She also went to the Federal Medical Centre, where the suspect claimed to be working, to ask about him and she was told that none of their doctors bears such a name. Immediately, she reported the case to the Force Criminal Investigation Department Abuja, where intelligent officers swung into action to arrest the suspect,” the statement reads in part.
Findings show that the fake doctor had changed his phone number and relocated from Owerri to Lafia, Nasarawa State, where he was subsequently tracked and arrested.
It was further uncovered that the suspect is involved in organ trafficking, with links to a contact in Toronto, Canada.
Recall that the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, reiterated the commitment of the force to combating crimes and ensuring the safety and security of communities.
The IGP assured Nigerians that an extensive investigation is ongoing, and all perpetrators involved in this heinous act will be brought to justice and charged accordingly.
A Florida man, Brian Brainard Wedgeworth, 47, has been sentenced to nine years in federal prison after pleading guilty to defrauding more than 30 women of more than $1.3 million by pretending to be a doctor on online dating services.
The prosecutors pointed out that the convict, who formerly lived in the Florida capital city of Tallahassee and in Center Point, Alabama, used 10 different aliases as part of the scheme, according to court records.
“Our citizens should not be preyed upon by fraudsters who steal through overtures of affection,” U.S. Attorney Jason Cody said in a news release.
Wedgeworth made promises to the women to con them into sending him money, jewelry and watches, according to court documents.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Service and the Internal Revenue Service, and authorities said they are searching for any additional victims.
Wedgeworth’s sentence will be followed by three years of supervised release. He will also be required to pay nearly $1.2 million in restitution.
The convict was said to have the following aliases (a/k/a “Dr. Brian Anderson,” a/k/a “Dr. Anthony Watkins,” a/k/a “Dr. Brian Adams,” a/k/a “Dr. Edward Chen,” a/k/a “Dr. Brian Chris,” a/k/a “Dr. Chris Williamson,” a/k/a “Dr. Brian Christopher Williamson,” a/k/a “Dr. Brian Edmonds,” a/k/a “Dr. Brian Ammerson,” a/k/a “Dr. Brian Lamar Wilson,” a/k/a “Dr. Brian Wilson,” a/k/a “Dr. Brian Mims,” a/k/a “Dr. Brian Lamar Sims”).
Wedgeworth pleaded guilty today to 25 counts of wire fraud, mail fraud, aggravated identity theft, and money laundering.
The plea was announced by Jason R. Coody, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.
Brian Brainard Wedgeworth
Court documents reflect that between October 2016 and March 2021, Wedgeworth devised a scheme to defraud women he met through online dating forums by falsely representing that he was a physician in order to fraudulently obtain money and property from them.
In so doing, Wedgeworth made promises to the women to induce them to send him money and buy him jewelry and watches. Wedgeworth admitted to causing or intending to cause, a total loss of over $1.3 million to over 30 women who he victimized as a result of his scheme.
“Our citizens should not be preyed upon by fraudsters who steal through overtures of affection,” said U.S. Attorney Coody. “With the assistance of our dedicated law enforcement partners, we are committed to investigating and vigorously prosecuting those who engage in all acts of fraud.”
Sentencing in this case was set for August 8, 2022, at 10:00 a.m., at the United States Courthouse in Tallahassee before the Honorable United States District Judge Robert L. Hinkle.
Wedgeworth faces up to 20 years in prison on wire fraud and mail fraud counts, up to 10 years in prison on the money laundering counts, and a minimum mandatory sentence of 2 years in prison, consecutive to any other imprisonment imposed, for the aggravated identity theft count.
However, he was eventually sentenced to nine years in prison.
“Rooting out fraudulent schemes furthered by the U.S. Mail, such as romance scams, remains a top priority for the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Our agency will continue to investigate those that target innocent individuals and abuse their trust for financial gain,” said Juan A. Vargas, Acting Inspector In Charge, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Miami Division.
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida is one of 94 offices that serve as the nation’s principal litigators under the direction of the Attorney General.
A fake medical doctor, Ayodeji Ademiluyi, 36, has been arrested by operatives of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) Ekiti State, FOR defrauding Point-of-Sale operators in the state capital.
The state Commandant of the agency, Mr John Fayemi, said the suspect defrauded the operators by sending fake alerts after collecting cash from them.
He said the suspect used an application on his phone, which also triggered a call from his fake hospital that a patient needed his attention.
“The PoS operator will then consider his status as a doctor and allow him to go. Later, the PoS operator will discover that he or she has been duped,” Fayemi added.
The state NSCDC Public Relations Officer, Tolulope Afolabi, in a statement, said the commandant spoke in Ado Ekiti while parading Ademiluyi and another suspected fraudster, Innocent Ekpako, 26, who was arrested in Cross River State for allegedly defrauding his boss.
The commandant, who said Ademiluyi had been perpetrating the act within the Ado Ekiti metropolis, said, “The suspect had defrauded over 25 PoS operators before men of the Counter-Terrorism Unit launched a manhunt for him with their dragnet, which paid off when he was arrested yesterday (Monday). Preliminary investigation shows that he is not a doctor but an okada rider.”
Fayemi said Ekpako, who was arrested in Ikom, Cross River State, ran away with a huge sum of money belonging to his master in Ado Ekiti.
He said, “The suspect is a former employee of a store in Ado Ekiti where he worked as a sales representative before he was sent on an errand with some money which he did not return. He disappeared into thin air until he was tracked, traced and arrested in Cross River State. The two suspects have confessed to the crime.”
The commandant cautioned PoS operators and shop owners in the state to be careful of their workers and customers as the state command had been inundated with complaints bordering on PoS fraud and stealing.
A medical doctor impersonator, Philip Agbe Chukwuemeka, has been arrested at Mgbuoba NTA Road area of Port Harcourt, for purchasing goods and paying for hotel bills worth N111,000 with fake bank alert.
Chukwuemeka claimed to be a medical doctor working at the Enugu State University Teaching Hospital, but the police in Rivers said preliminary Investigation revealed that his claim is false, as he dropped out of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, while in 200 level.
DSP Grace Iringe-Koko, acting Spokesperson for the Rivers State Police Command who announced the arrest in a statement said Chukwuemeka is currently being investigated at State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) for possible prosecution.
“The suspect,who is a native of Umuhunvosi Village, in Isiala-Ngwa South of Abia State, met a lady via the Badoo social media platform, and came all the way from Enugu to Port Harcourt to meet her in person. He paid for his lodging during their date, using fake credit alerts for services of about N111,000 (One Hundred and Eleven Thousand Naira)”, the police spokesperson said.
She added that Rivers Commissioner of Police, CP Eboka Friday urged all and sundry to employ caution in the utilization of social media, and be wary of fraudulent credit alerts by unsuspected persons and be quick in reporting individuals with deceptive tendencies.
The Police in Ogun State have arrested a 56-year-old fake doctor for allegedly conducting an illegal abortion that killed one Kehinde Olakitan.
The suspect identified as Salahudeen Jamiu was October 24 at his hospital, Mojisola Maternity Clinic, after the woman’s husband filed a complaint at Onipanu Division in Ogun State.
It was gathered that the deceased who was the woman’s husband had received a call from her friend Dupe Odebunmi that she was on admission at the clinic.
But before he could get to the hospital, it was gathered that the suspect and his accomplices had evacuated his wife’s body and dumped it at a building near his residence.
Angered by the development, the man, it was gathered, filed a complaint at the police station which led to a manhunt of the fake doctor and his eventual arrest.
The Nation gathered that it was after the suspect’s arrest the man knew his wife, a mother of four, was pregnant and had proceeded to have an abortion without his knowledge.
It was learnt that Odebunmi, a drug hawker, was the one who introduced the deceased to the quack doctor for the procedure but notified her husband after the woman had passed on.
Odebunmi, according to a police source, claimed she was not aware the doctor dumped the woman’s body near her residence.
Confirming the incident, police spokesman Abimbola Oyeyemi, a Deputy Superintendent (DSP) said both the doctor and Odebunmi were being interrogated.
He said, “The Divisional Police Officer (DPO) Onipanu SP Magdalene Adeniji received the complaint and detailed detectives to track the operator of the maternity centre who was on the run at the time.
“Their efforts yielded positive result when the suspect was arrested on October 24. He admitted that he carried out abortion on the woman who was brought by Odebunmi and that in the process she died.
“He confessed that he was not a trained medical doctor that he learnt the practice off the street. He also admitted to have dumped the woman’s body near her house pit of fear.
“The corpse has been deposited at the General Hospital Mortuary in Ota for autopsy. The Commissioner of Police Bashir Makama has ordered the transfer of the suspect to homicide section of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID) for proper action.
“The CP also appealed to the public to always patronise qualified health providers whenever the need arises instead of seeking medical assistance from quack.”
