Brian Anuche, a middle-aged man, has been arrested and handed over to the police for allegedly posing as a staff of Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Plc, PHED, in Port Harcourt.
He was recently apprehended at the Aba Road axis of Port Harcourt, Rivers State after a tip-off by an unsuspecting customer who he allegedly defrauded 220,000 naira in the guise of activating his account as well as paying his bill.
In a press release signed on Wednesday, June 16, 2021, by Chioma Aninwe, Acting Manager, Corporate Communications PHED, and made available to journalists, the suspect was apprehended after a customer was defrauded.
“The suspect, while masquerading as a PHED staff, had approached a customer, Emmanuel Nte, and offered to assist him to activate his account and subsequently pay his bills.
“The customer was said to have given him the sum of N220,000.00 (Two hundred and twenty thousand naira) for the purpose. Upon collecting the money, Anucha left and that was the last time the customer saw or heard from him.
“Mr. Nte reported the incident to a PHED staff during a routine customer check. As soon as the company got wind of the incident, they deployed security personnel to monitor the area so as to apprehend the fraudster if he ever showed up.
“Their effort eventually yielded result after a couple of days and Anucha was apprehended.
Reacting to the incident, Mr. Nte, lauded PHED for their prompt response and commitment to resolving the issue which led to the arrest of the fraudster.
“Meanwhile, Mr. Anucha has been handed over to the police. He will be charged to court for the law to take its full course.
“PHED seizes this opportunity to reiterate its earlier warnings to the public against making cash payments to individuals to guard against such ugly incident.
According to her, this has been the position of the MD/CEO of PHED, Dr. Henry Ajagbawa, since 2020 warning the public against any cash dealing with anybody on behalf of the organization.
“Payments are to be made at PHED offices, banks, and accredited agents. Customers should also ensure they get a receipt at the point of payment,” she stated.
Source: Vanguard
