Influencer Arrested for Dubious Crowd Funding, Fake Surgery Claims

A Yenogoa based social media influencer, Ogechi Okechukwu, has been arrested by the police for duping the public through social media crowd funding for a fake surgery.

Also arrested is her accomplice, a medical doctor, named withheld, said to be a staff of the Federal Medical Centre, FMC, Yenogoa. 

According to reports, Okechukwu claimed she was medically distressed and in need of an urgent funding from public spirited individuals and groups for a colostomy surgical section. She was said to have set up a Facebook crowd funding account titled #Ogechallenge, into which she received monies, said to be in millions, from unsuspecting donors.

Rather than the claimed medical purpose said to be fake, she fritters the monies on her fake lifestyle. 

According to multiple sources, Okechukwu faked the said illness with the help of a medical doctor, a staff of the Federal Medical Centre, FMC, Yenogoa. Together, they secured a private room from where she produced and uploaded images of herself lying on a hospital bed with multiple tubes seeming to be connected into her and held in place with surgical tapes. 

From investigations, some of the images turned out to be those of an old surgery which she had.

Sources also disclosed that she has been living large following the success of her scheme, prompting some of her victims to describe her as very mean, shameless, heartless and dubious.

However, her current travails began when some of those through whom she raised money for the fake surgery became curious and suspicious. Among others, they became suspicions over how she kept delaying video calls unaware she was using the time to run from wherever she was to her paid room at the FMC, to put on the taped medical apparatuses before making live video calls. In the process, some details of her dubious schemes began to filter out.

Among others, it was discovered that against her claim that she was scheduled to undergo the medical section on a Saturday, the hospital billed no such section for the said date. More so, officials of the hospital familiar with such arrangements disclosed that it never considered any case relating to hers.

FreshNews learnt that she was stampeded into making errors that nailed her following the insistence by some of the donors that she must conduct her scheduled surgery given that she already had well over N1m at her disposal, or refund the money. The order became imperative as she claimed donations were coming in scantily.

In addition, she was told to support her every claim with photo evidences.

Out of desperation, she told her benefactors that she would request for a referral to another Yenogoa based medical facility for the surgery only to forward images not long after, that the section had been done, posting images of herself with tapes fixed on her as evidence. 

Unknown to her, her claim teed off more rounds of curious concerns among donors. Against her claims she would seek referral to another Yenogoa base medical facility, she never did. The images she uploaded were from the same hospital bed from which she produced others. That is in addition to the fact that the hospital neither conducts such surgeries on Saturdays nor had hers previewed and scheduled.

In another image, she was seen wearing eye lashes as if she went in and out of the procedure wearing same.

“Nurse Ogechi later said the donations were scantily coming in and I didn’t believe her so I deleted the post and I told my colleague that Nurse Ogechi must go for that surgery ! The money with her was over a million and it is enough for colostomy , She MUST go for the surgery or she refunds,” one of the concerned donor said. 

"When the pressure from us didn’t stop, she videoed herself from the hospital stating they are on strike and would be going home

" Another time she said the hospital don’t have diesel and hence cannot go to Theatre. 

"Then she said she’s at home and told us she lost someone and mourning …. She frustrated every effort we made. Every efforts we made was frustrated by her.

"I called her and told her off. She promised she would ask for referral to Yenogoa to have her surgery.

"Suddenly she sent a photo of herself that the surgery has been done. These were old photos and we told her she was not truthful.

"Why would you go into a surgery without informing your sponsors? How come the surgery site is same place you showed us they did the first time? How come the photos looked so old? the donor added.

Curious queries were fired at her following which she became apprehensive. In response, apparently discomfiture and forwarded videos and other images that succeeded in raising further disturbing concerns.

“We queried her and she became apprehensive. She sent in a video and we noted something-Eye lashes. You had an eye lash on during and after surgery.”

More investigation revealed that she was not alone in the dubious scheme. She was being actively aided by a doctor in the hospital. It was also discovered that she was paying the said doctor to arrange some of the images wherein she was dressed up with apparatuses that gave the impression she was scheduled for surgery. 

“My suspicion was becoming clearer and I told my colleague that I do not want to have anything to do with that patient. She is a liar and a dubious person.

"Who is the Doctor writing all these fake prescription and having her bed at the hospital whenever we insist on video call?

"A Doctor was involved. She was paying a doctor to do all these fake admission! She needed no surgery, surgery was done years ago and all those videos and photos were saved for scam .

"She ran to another person on Facebook. they raised money for her and she was caught. The doctor has been arrested...”

Meanwhile, the police are already investigating the matter. Early reports have it that the investigators have already uncovered a number of incriminating evidences. Among them are telephone conversations she had with her medical doctor.

FreshNews will provide more updates as they unfold