COUPLE ARRESTED FOR STEALING N38 MILLION

The suspect told the police that  she worked in the company’s account department for 10 years and stole “only N38 million”, contrary to the N60 million the company alleged, claiming that the company diverted the money that was meant to return to National Health Insurance Scheme(NHIS), to an account where the company fixed it, and her superiors were aware of the illegality.

Penpushing further reports that, she gave the identities  of the superiors as Kolawole Samuel and Patricia Ogundeinde, while the husband of the prime suspect said he did not know much about the crime, only that they travelled to Ghana together.

The man  claimed that the principal suspect  has been his girlfriend since 2015 and they already had their visas before they received a strange call advising them to leave Nigeria and travelled to Ghana in 2017.

Penpushimg also reports that, Ogunseye told the interrogators that  he lost his mother and had to come to Nigeria for the funeral arrangement and that was how he was arrested, adding, “I lost my mum last week and I was at the burial where they came to arrest me,”

The woman on her part, said she came on her own to make confessions, realizing  that her partner had been arrested.

Penpushing reports that, the Secretary and General Manager in charge of Administration.  Clearline Health Insurance Limited Ijeoma Anyiam, at the venue of the parade of the suspects  said what the couple were involved in was pure fraud and had nothing to do with remittance or no remittance.

The Company boss denied the claim by the suspect that over the 10 years she spent at work, the company did not remit to National Health Insurance Scheme(NHIS), funds to the appropriate quarters.

“She can claim anything, that’s how a dying man operates. A drowning man would clutch at anything. But the truth of the matter is that the National Health Insurance Scheme has all the information of remittances that are made every year.  For hospitals that are closed down or hospitals that cannot be located, the money is remitted back to the NHIS, the records are there.”

Penpushing reports that,Anyiam  said the company discovered the fraud the day she started her annual leave and the company received a call from a hospital that it had not been receiving  National Health Insurance Scheme(NHIS), payment for months.

“The way we discovered that she was operating was that she would put the name of the hospital and put her account number which could be her personal account number, or her son’s. When you’re dealing with over 2000 hospitals for instance, and then you need to make approval for their money, all you are looking at is to see that these hospitals are listed’.

“The point where we discovered was the day she commenced annual vacation when a hospital called that they had not received their payments for months. They said that anytime they called, she would tell them that it would be resolved. Since that was her portfolio, she had been the one handling it. But because she was on vacation; somebody else had to look into it that was where they discovered.”

The General Manager added that the employees the suspect alleged are still with the company and it is the police’s duty to carry out investigations, while the principal suspect said the stolen fund had been returned to the company, adding that the house and other properties acquired with the money have also been seized.

Penpushing further reports that as at the time of filing this report, the police said it is still investigating the matter assuring that on completion of the investigation the suspects would be charged to court.