Former Plateau State Governor, Joshua Dariye, has petitioned the Nigeria police over an alleged fraud perpetrated by two men whom he accused of selling him a fake Polo luxury wristwatch at the sum of $290,000 (about N400m).
In the petition addressed to the Deputy Inspector General of Police, Force Intelligence Department (FID), Garki Area 11, Abuja, Dariye who identified the two suspects as Emmanuel Odogwu and Franklin Gideon also known as Kelvin, accused them of criminal conspiracy, breach of trust, and obtaining money under false pretences.
Dariye who was the governor of Plateau State from 1999 to 2007, and later became a senator before he was prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and convicted of embezzling N1.16 billion in ecological funds meant for the state, recalled that in April 2024, the two men who claimed to be staff members of a luxury watch company, offered him a Polo wristwatch for $290,000.
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He stated that he later approached the official Polo Company for verification, only to learn that the watch was a counterfeit and that the suspects were not affiliated with the company.
He said after he realized that he had been scammed, he made several attempts to reach the fraudsters to no avail and based on discrete investigations, he found out that the suspects are high profile fraudsters.
The ex-governor said the case took a different turn when police investigators identified the real identity of one of the suspects as Franklyn Ojo Jatto who had allegedly converted the $290,000 into ₦250 million through a Bureau de Change and transferred the funds to a Keystone Bank account belonging to his company, Franklyn’s Construction Nig. Ltd.
He further revealed that the said Jatto had used N145 million from the proceeds of the scam to purchase a property at Sahara III Estate, Lokogoma, Abuja, and fixed ₦100m in a deposit account.
Part of the petition from the former governor reads:
“I humbly wish to complain against one Emmanuel Odogwa and one Franklin Gideon (aka Kelvin) for Criminal Conspiracy, Breach of Trust, Obtaining Money by False Pretences and Fraud.
“I paid them the money and they promised to supply same. They did supply the Polo wrist but I discovered it was fake. I kindly request your esteemed office to track and arrest the suspect and help recover the $290,000.”
