Sam Onwuemeodo, the Chief Press Secretary to the Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha disclosed that the thirty (30) alleged suspects were arrested after an investigation showed that 92 cheques were used to carry-out different acts of fraud.
That the fraudulent cheques used were written in the names of people who were not pensioners.
Mr. Sam Inwuemeodo said, “About 30 pension board workers have been handed over to personnel of the Department of State Services over monumental fraud through pension cheques amounting to N650m. The cheques in question are 92, with some of them containing N10m and above.
“Most of the fake cheques were written in the names of people who are not pensioners or who do not exist, while some were written in the names of existing pensioners, who have three cheques or more. Only one have the actual amount the pensioner ought to have as his pension. The fake cheques have amounts from N10m and above.”
The Imo State Governor, Mr. Rochas’s spokesperson stated that the state government had on Monday began to pay the pensioners 100 per cent of their outstanding pension arrears, with pensioners from eight local government areas, including Nkwerre LGA, Ideato South LGA, Njaba LGA, Nwangele LGA, Isu LGA, Obowo LGA, Onuimo LGA and Orsu LGA, being paid.
He said the government chose to pay directly to the pensioners following the discovery of the “mind-boggling fraud” perpetrated by workers of the Imo State Pension Board through fraudulent cheques.