A Nigerian national wanted by the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) has been arrested in Ghana following a joint intelligence-led operation involving the Cyber Security Authority (CSA), the Ghana Police Service, the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and other international law enforcement agencies over an alleged cross-border financial fraud scheme.
The suspect, identified as Aderinsola Oluwanifemi Adeleye, has been arraigned before a Ghanaian court after investigators linked him to an alleged cyber-enabled financial crime syndicate accused of using compromised debit cards issued by a U.S. bank to carry out fraudulent Point of Sale (POS) transactions at fuel stations in Accra.
According to Ghanaian authorities, the investigation began after a complaint was received over suspicious transactions processed through POS terminals at selected filling stations in the Ghanaian capital.
Investigators said the transactions were traced to Citi Bank debit cards issued in the United States, prompting a joint investigation involving local and international law enforcement agencies.
Preliminary findings led to the arrest of two fuel pump attendants, who allegedly confessed to assisting Adeleye and another suspect in processing fraudulent transactions.
The investigators alleged that the attendants told police the suspect regularly visited the stations and used bank cards linked to mobile devices to authorise fictitious fuel purchases before collecting cash instead of fuel.
Authorities said Adeleye was arrested when he allegedly returned to one of the filling stations to conduct another transaction.
A search conducted at the scene allegedly led to the recovery of a Citi Bank VISA debit card and a Beretta pistol loaded with two rounds of live ammunition.
Investigators also searched premises linked to the suspect at Katamanso in Accra, where they reportedly recovered additional live ammunition and an empty shell casing concealed in an office drawer.
The recovered items have been retained as exhibits while investigations continue.
Security officials disclosed that Adeleye had already been under surveillance by the Cyber Security Authority as part of an ongoing intelligence operation targeting cyber-enabled financial crimes before his arrest.
According to the authorities, further investigations involving Ecobank Ghana confirmed that the bank had received fraud alerts from VISA International relating to unauthorised transactions carried out on Citi Bank customer debit cards.
Investigators alleged that Adeleye and accomplices still at large operated a scheme in which fraudulent purchases were processed through POS terminals before cash equivalent to the fake transactions was handed over, enabling the syndicate to unlawfully obtain funds linked to compromised bank cards.
Law enforcement agencies further alleged that proceeds of the suspected fraud were used to acquire several assets, including a four-bedroom house, a cement block manufacturing business, a pickup vehicle and other properties believed to represent proceeds of crime.
Authorities said investigations are continuing to identify and apprehend other members of the alleged syndicate, trace additional assets and analyse electronic evidence recovered during the operation to determine the full scope of the suspected criminal network and its international links.
The case remains before a Ghanaian court.
Under Ghanaian law, Adeleye has been charged but not convicted and is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty by the court.
