Uzodimma’s monitoring team smashes syndicate that produces fake government documents
Members of a criminal syndicate that specializes in mass producing fake government documents and using same to deceive and extort money from unsuspecting members of the public have been smashed by Governor Hope Uzodimma’s eagle-eyed monitoring team.
Although the activities of the syndicate affects all the States in the South East, South South and even Middle Belt, they use Owerri as their operational base.
Governor Uzodimma’s officials, operating under the Monitoring and Compliance Enforcement team, swooped on the criminal syndicate Tuesday, October 14, 2025, arresting some of them and recovering highly incriminating fake government documents from them.
Some of the recovered documents include: Niger Delta Youth Empowerment Vehicle Support Scheme, Middle Belt Gateway By-pass membership Certificate, South West Gateway By-pass membership Certificate, National Union of Local Government Employees Consolidated emblem, 2025 Integrated File Coverage of Association of Emblem Operators, among others.
Recently, information got to the Governor about some motorists who reportedly said they were arrested by some persons at a road block at Ngor Okpala on Owerri-Aba road claiming to be working for the government.
At another time, a cleric of an Anglican Church who was coming to Owerri for medication reportedly had a similar experience where the syndicate claiming to be officials of VIO from the State extorted N30k from him and issued him with a fake receipt at the back of Imo State University, Owerri.
From the motorist who was stopped at Ngor Okpala came report that he was forced to pay N30k cash and presented a receipt by the criminal syndicate but which had Edo State insignia.
Armed with the knowledge that the operators were not working for the Imo State government, Governor Uzodimma directed his Monitoring and Compliance Enforcement team to mount surveillance on the syndicate.
On Tuesday, luck ran out on the Syndicate as two of the members were nabbed with huge cache of fake government documents with which they defraud and extort unsuspecting members of the public.
The two suspects have also been handed over to the police for further investigation as other members who are on the run are being sought after.
