The government of Cross River State Nigeria has declared a Chinese man, Xiao Bo wanted for fraud.
The suspect allegedly defrauded Cross River Government agency of the sum of N3.6 million.
The money is supposed to be part of revenue accrued to the board of internal revenue as road infrastructure maintenance levy. The levy was recently introduced making it mandatory for all companies and trucks operating in the state to pay a stipulated amount for road maintenance.
Bo who is an agent of a quarry company based in Akamkpa Local Government Area of the state was said to have bolted after allegedly diverting huge funds expected to be remitted by Messrs Brothers Quarry into the government’s coffers as road maintenance levy.
He was alleged to have diverted the money into his private account at First Bank of Nigeria, Akampka Branch, instead of paying same into the government’s account in the same bank.
Bo’s illegal exploit came to light when he diverted N615, 150 into his private account on March 26, 2014 and issued two contradictory tellers to that effect with a fake phone number, 07031213666, as depositor.
One of the tellers for which payment was purportedly made into government’s account and issued to the Internal Revenue Service of the Cross River State could not be traced to the government coffers. Rather, the same teller with number 0678719 issued by the bank indicates that Mr. Bo paid N614, 150,000 into his private account with number 6612010017392 instead of the government’s account with number2022111580 which reflected in the second teller.
Following the alleged fraudulent activities of Mr. Bo, the Acting Chairman, Cross River State Internal Revenue Service, Dr. Peter Oti, said his office had lodged a formal complaint at the Zone 6 police command, while Messrs Brothers Company has surreptitiously paid back the diverted funds by Mr. Bo.
Oti, however, urged the company to release Mr. Bo to the police to answer questions on the allegations of fraud/diversion of funds leveled against him.
But the Managing Director of Brothers Quarry, who simply gave his name as Mr. Young, denied the allegation, explaining that his company had paid up and that Bo was back in China.
Zone 6 Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Tasiu Ibrahim, confirmed the incident, adding that the matter was still being investigated.