The Special Fraud Unit of the Lagos State Police Command have arrested one Femi Salau, for allegedly hacking into the server system of banks and corporate agencies, defrauding them of about N1.868 billion.

Two Bureau De Change (BDC) operators, who allegedly acted as Salau’s accomplices to perpetrate the fraud, were also arrested.

In a statement released on Thursday, August 12, by the Units spokesperson, Eyitayo Johnson, the suspect used application software in creating fictitious credits summing up to N1,868,900,000 on the accounts of bank customers.

“Operatives of the Special Fraud Unit, Ikoyi, Lagos, have arrested one Femi Salau, the kingpin of a syndicate that specialises in hacking into the servers of banks and corporate agencies.

“The hacker, who displayed exemplary mastery of the cyber environment, was arrested after he hacked into the Flex-Cube Universal Banking System of a first generation bank.

“Using application software, he created fictitious credits totaling N1,868,900,000 on the accounts of three of the bank’s customers and successfully consummated debits amounting to N417,542,000 through Internet banking transfers to other banks.

“The unit, while acting swiftly on a petition from the bank, contacted the Central Bank of Nigeria and Deposit Money Banks, whose customers were beneficiaries of the fraudulent funds, and was able to salvage a substantial amount.

“The Commissioner of Police in charge of the unit, Anderson Bankole, arrested one of the BDCs operators in a bank in Abuja when he went for the IGP’s conference. The other BDC operator was arrested in Lagos.

“The hacker (Salau) was the last person we arrested, because the way we conduct our investigation is from the bottom up.”

“Consequently, the Commissioner of Police in charge of the unit scheduled a meeting with the Chief Compliance Officers and Heads of Technology/Information Security Department of banks with a view to brainstorming on the loopholes exploited by this suspect and how to counter similar hacks for the benefit of both the police and the banking sector of our economy,” Johnson said.

He also said, items recovered from Salau included; Apple laptop and iPhone, adding that he and the BDC operators, who laundered the money, would be charged as soon as investigation was concluded.

Explaining how the suspects were arrested, Johnson said, “We had been on the trail of the hacker (Salau) for a while; he traveled out of the country; so, we placed him under watch and picked him up from the airport.