The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has arrested an official of the Ministry of Defence over a contract fraud involving $95, 000.

An operative of the EFCC, who confided in our correspondent on Tuesday, said that operatives were still grilling the suspect, identified as Michael (surname withheld), as of the time of filing this report.

It was gathered that the Michael, a Level 9 personnel of the Ministry of Defence, who allegedly answers the alias John Bawa, defrauded a Colorado, United States-based company of the $95, 000 by promising to facilitate the supply of three military helicopters to the ministry.

The MoD official was said to have released a budgetary provision of N12.6bn in the 2015 Budget for the acquisition of three military helicopters for the MoD as a bait get to the attention of the Americans.

The source said Michael then told the Americans to pay $95,000 as facilitation fee to qualify for the bid for the procurement of the helicopters.

It was stated that the American firm paid the facilitation fee of $95, 507.41 in five tranches.

The civil servant was said to have presented fake documents to the company to facilitate the payment of the money into his account with a new generation bank.

They were said to have paid $21, 500 at first and later credited the ministry personnel’s account with $1100, $31,000, $1600 and $40,307 thereby bringing the total t0 $95,507.41.

The operative said that the US-based company became suspicious when the suspect demanded for additional facilitation fee without justification.

It was stated that the company’s officials contacted the EFCC to intervene when it became clear that the MoD personnel had swindled them.

It was gathered that operatives assigned to the case arrested the suspect, who is being interrogated.

The source said, “An official of the Ministry of Defence is being grilled for defrauding an American firm, based in Colorado, of the sum of $95, 000.

The MoD personnel who gave his name as Michael (surname withheld), provided a piece of information he extracted from the 2015 Defence Budget to the Americans to commit the fraud.