Mr. Hardarson:
Here is the information:

My company invested in a Nigerian project a few years ago and nothing
came of it. In fact, we thought all had been lost, we had virtually
forgotten about it. Then in November we received an email from Dr.
Abubaker Duru-Aminu later to add Spiff as a last name, saying that he
was a newly appointed member of the contract review committee and that
they had discovered our project had been completed and was ready for
payment but somehow it had been overlooked. All they needed was our
banking information in order to make the payment. This was to be
accomplished in 7-10 days.

Of course, we were thrilled. He said there were various fees that had to be paid in order to obtain the Exchange Control Approval Order # and that he had arranged with some of his associates to pay those fees in exchange for a portion of the final payment. He said they would take care of all the fees. He said once we received that Number, no one could deny us the final payment of $21,320,000.00. Since I was not asked for any up front money, I sent the information. They faxed various forms that supposedly had been paid for by them. There was the accreditation for my company, the back tax form for the time up until present, the Bond release form which was supposed to be paid if the contract amount was over $8,000,000.00.

This form alone was $85,000.00 for a three month insurance bond. He said it was supposed to be 1% of the amount for a year, but they negotiated for a lesser time since we did not need it for a year. All these fees amounted to about $135,000.00. I was assigned an officer by the Debt Resolution Committee, a Mr. Ayo Ladan. He then informed me of the application fee of $2,130.00 that he said had to be made from here. Then there was a filing fee which could be made from there, but had to get a local account number assigned to be able to be deposited there. The filing fee was $5,000.00. I had to make the application fee in order to have the number assigned. So I made the $2,130.00 application fee knowing full well that I should not do it, but everything had seemed above board until then.

After I received the local account number they only deposited $1,200.00 into the account and claimed they were having trouble obtaining the rest. So I sent the rest thinking that was the end of the fees. I was then informed that I was to come to Nigeria to sign the release. Also that there was a signing fee of 1 1/2% which would be $31,980.00. I knew at that point that I was involved in a Scam. I had the presence of mind to tell them that I could not fly and that I would have to have an associate to do the signing for me. From the beginning Dr. Duru-Aminu had said they might demand that I come over there for the signing, but that they would take care of that by having someone else do the signing.

A Mr. Dalhatu Garuba had been suggested as my agent by Dr. Duru-Aminu. He is supposedly the brother of Alihja Garuba who was supposedly putting up most of the money. Dr. Duru-Aminu and Alihja himself could not act as agents because they are both supposed to be Civil Servants. Anyway, when I informed my officer Mr. Ladan of the fact that I could not fly, he claimed to have gone to the officers involved and they agreed to have Mr. Dalhatu Garuba do the signing for a fee of $50,000.00 each to be paid after the claim was awarded, but Mr. Dalhatu Garuba would have to be certified. They wanted 1% to certify him, $21,320.00. Of course, I told them I did not have that amount and a lot of delays and phone calls and pressure that their year was closing and our file would be put in the redundancy file and it would be harder to resurrect than it had been from the first.

I did not send any more money and just told them I could not beg or borrow it. The latest, since I sent not money. Yesterday they said there was a spill over fund for contractors that had not met all their obligations before the year ended and I could be put on that list to be paid in January, but I would have to send $2,000.00 to bribe the officials to get on that list. Well, I did not send the $2,000.00 either. Dr. Duru-Aminu is still calling. Of course, he is never on a secure line and I must call him back in his office to get me to pay for the phone call. He had someone call last night claiming he had been trying to get through to me but could not, so I should call him back urgent, but I did not call back.

I feel certain that I have been involved in a Scam. They claimed to be Christians, quoted all kinds of Scripture, said they had prayed and fasted before calling me in hopes that they would be allowed to help me get the payment and thus benefit from it for themselves also. That is what makes me really sad. The $6-7,000 I sent them, I can recover from. I just grieve that people would involve the most precious possession of their faith in a Scam. Anyway, that is the story

Thanks for your help in any information

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