THE operatives of the Special Fraud Unit (SFU) have smashed a seven-man gang who specialized in manipulating fuel pump meters to cheat fuel buyers at filling stations in Lagos.
Parading the suspects at Milverton office Ikoyi Lagos SFU spokesman, an Assistant Superintendent of Police Ngozi Isintume said the owner of the new generation filling station at Ejigbo (name of owner withheld) alerted the commissioner of police CP Chinwike Asadu through a petition, that some members of his staff conspired among themselves and stole over N9,000,000 (nine million naira) through manipulation of the fuel pump meters at the head office and a branch of the company Fawa Nig Ltd which sells petroleum products.
The SFU image maker said the gang has seven members operatives but four were arrested when SFU stormed the head office and a branch while three escaped.
Those arrested narrated their individual roles in the crime. Making her own confession, the first suspect Owowumi Akinta said, “We really committed the offence. It is the pump maintenance manager named Akinrere that lured us into this crime. He told us that other people in other filling stations were doing it and getting money to help themselves. He also told us which we found to be true, that our managing director is also into fraud and that ours should not be different.
He revealed to us that the normal fuel gauge (meter) is 20.5 but the managing director at times, adjusted the meter to 21.5 or even 22.1 and, at times orders us to bribe the NNPC supervisors and we used to settle them with N10,000, N5,000, even N20,000 at times. That was how we bought the idea and it worked for us.
I am 30 years old. I am from Ondo state. We suffer transportation problem. We start work 5.00 am and close at 11.00pm. I am the general manager but others like attendants do shifting from 2.00pm to 11.30pm. The name of the company is FAWA Nigeria Ltd.
I started working in the company with my school certificate (O’level) as an attendant six or seven years ago on a monthly salary of N3,000. I was later promoted to supervisor and my salary was upgraded to N6,000 per month. Last three years I was promoted to manager with monthly salary of N12,000. Presently I am the general manager with N18,000 as monthly salary.
The idea to defraud the company started when we started doing N10,000 monthly contribution to help ourselves.
That fateful day, Akinrere called our engineer Mr. Tayo while I called my colleagues to deliberate on how to go about the monthly contribution. I told them that my work is to transfer money from Ejigbo to head office. I asked them to think out what to do or how to do it.
At this point, Akinrere the pump engineer said, “we suffer ourselves for nothing. There is an easy way out. We have to buy one fuse to deregulate the pump. Unfortunately the fuse did not work in the head office fuel pumps at Ejigbo.
Titilayo borrowed us N35,000 with which we used in buying the fuse. We tried it at Igando road branch and it worked. We first got N19,000 and the second time we got N13,000. We promised to balance her from the money we would get when we fix our own fuse in the fuel pump. As the thing started working we interchanged the fuse with branch pump. We got four kegs and sold each keg N3,000 bringing the total to N12,000.00
As the thing continued to work we did it four times at Ejigbo and five times at head office.
Kamaru used to hold the money for us and we have a book we record everything we did including using it to share our money at the end of the month. We are seven in number namely: Myself, the general manager, Akinrere the pump maintenance engineer, Tope the Supervisor, Niyi our head of department (HOD), Titilayo, Ola and Kamaru.
My finance is not among. He sells ‘Tokunbo’ cars. He told me that he wanted to go to Cotonou for his business and I told him to give me the key to his car (a Volvo car). When they brought the Volvo car I put only ten gallons of fuel in it and parked it in the filling station premises. The car is not involved in the matter.
Let me tell you something, we used to get fuel excess like 200 litres. We would not tell MD. We only tip the truck people.
All meter tampering are with managing directors. Only directors can tamper with meter underground while pump maintenance engineer always get access to pump fuse.
On how they perpetrate the illegal acts she said, “The pump engineer having told us to contribute money for our own fuse, comes everytime to change the original fuse and put the one we bought.After selling with the one we bought, he would ask us whether we were ok, may be we had sold about N10,000. We would tell him to remove it so that the sales would be reading in the company fuse and to avoid being caught by the MD or Supervisors.
The second tactics is cheating customers who don’t open their eyes very well. For instance, if the pump attendant had sold N2,000 fuel and another customer wants to buy five thousand naira fuel he would be cheated if he did not look at the meter reading to know whether it was robbed off or he started from the one he had already sold. If so the customer who paid N5,000 got only N3,000 fuel because the one already sold to the former customer (N2,000) was added to his own.
The one of underground adjustment are done by directors only who usually adjusted from normal 20.5 to 21.5 to 22.00 and we did not complain.On pumping of air into customers fuel tanks in some filling stations Owowunmi said it is not true. No air is pumped into fuel tank of the customers car. There is no way one would pump only air. Any time you pump fuel must follow. It is meter tricks, only as I explained above. I have explained how the owner of the company can be defrauded also and I also explained how a customer can be defrauded. What is important is for the customer to open his eyes well and read the meter well.
The second suspect, Titilayo Adedeji aged 26 from Ijebub-Ode said, see me o, I did account in my office one day and got excess of N20,000 (twenty thousand naira) I called Owowunmi to come and see what I saw as the general manager. When she came she told me to share the money between two of us.
Later I discovered that it was a miscalculation and alerted her. She said we should call Akinrere to advice on the correct thing to do. When he came he brought this idea of replacing fuse.
When Oga (MD) started complaining of shortage (consistent shortage) I called them and advised them that we should stop but when they refused I stopped doing it with them.
There was one attendant (a boy) who tampered with the fuel pump and she reported him and the boy was sacked. I asked her why she reported the boy.
On whether she and her gang members defrauded the company N9m (nine million naira) she said she would leave her company if she get such money. She said, “I even sell recharge cards to complement my meager salary how much more getting N9m. Auditors used to come two times a week. I transfer money. I know we don’t have shortage. At this point Owowunmi interfered, I transferred money. We don’t have shortage, everything is recorded in our log book.
