The police in the United Arab Emirates said Thursday that they recovered over 150 million dirhams (about N16 billion) in cash during a coordinated raid on the apartments of Nigerians living in that city two weeks ago according to the online newspaper, PremiumTimes.
Ramon Abbas and Olalekan Ponle, widely known as Hushpuppi and Woodberry, respectively, and their gang of 10 other Nigerians were the target of the June 10 operation tagged “Fox Hunt 2”, the UAE fficials said in Dubai.
All the 12 were taken into custody where they have remained ever since. Dubai prosecutors said the suspects had given statements but investigations into their alleged fraud would continue for weeks to come before they could be charged.
“We seized more than Dh150 million in cash from them and confiscated 13 luxury cars worth Dh25 million,” Dubai police chief, Jamal Salem Al Jallaf told the city’s major daily.
A video circulated online by Dubai authorities said officers confiscated 21 computers, 47 mobile phones, 15 memory sticks and five hard disks containing 119,580 in alleged fraud files.
A total of 1,926,400 victims were said to have been targeted by the syndicate in a scheme that spanned several months.
Thirteen luxury cars estimated to be worth over 25 million dirhams (N2.6 billion) were also seized from the gang.
They have been accused of being involved in business email compromise and other forms of Internet fraud.
The raid has been touted by Emirati authorities as a major breakthrough in their fight against cybercrimes.
Several Nigerians are suspected to be part of loose syndicates operating across Dubai and other parts of the United Arab Emirates.
