A Nigerian man was arrested for alleged possession of $400,000 counterfeit bills, Nigeria’s anti-corruption agency said Tuesday.
Samson Otuedon confessed he operated a syndicate that used fake dollar bills to scam unsuspecting clients, Wilson Uwujaren, a spokesman for the Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said in a statement.
An investigation was launched into Otuedon’s activities in Nasarawa, Nigeria’s north central state after it received reports the group was producing fake dollar bills.
Uwujaren told CNN Tuesday the anti-corruption agency had arrested several fake currency traders in northern Nigeria, a hub for foreign currency trading.
“Those conversant with currency trading in Nigeria know that most legal and illegal bureau de change operators come from the north,”Uwujaren told CNN.
The suspect was arrested Saturday and will be charged to court after investigations have been concluded, Uwujaren said in the statement.
The threat of counterfeiting dollar bills has increased in recent years as more countries adopt the US dollar as their national currency, a 2016 report from the United Secret State Service says.
U.S. officials have said the $100 bill is the most frequently counterfeited denomination of U.S. currency outside the United States due to its broad circulation overseas. CNN
