Another dimension was introduced to the over N60m fraud rocking the Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo, Ondo State on Tuesday as a source in the institution claimed that officials of the school detected it.

The institution’s bursar, Mr. Solomon Arowojolu, and four other officials were arrested and detained two weeks ago by the Ondo State Police Command in connection with the fraud that allegedly took place between September 2009 and March 2010.

But the source at the institution, who craved anonymity because he had not been authorised to speak on the issue, said that the fraud was actually detected by officials of the school and was reported to the Owo branch of the First Bank of Nigeria Plc.

The source, a top management member of the institution, further revealed that those who perpetrated the fraud succeeded by forging the cheque book of the institution and using it to withdraw money simultaneously with the original cheque from the current account being operated by the school.

He further alleged that the forged cheques were honoured by the bank officials without passing through the required process as there was no means to ascertain the identities of the payees.

“The bank could not provide the means of identification of those that withdrew the money, while the institution has also not reconciled its account with the bank for a long time,” he added.

When contacted, the Public Relations Officer in the state police command, Mr. Aremu Adeniran, said the case was being handled by the Criminal Investigation Department.


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