A Lagos household drama that unfolded this week ended in arrests after a cook employed two weeks ago and an alleged accomplice were detained for their suspected involvement in a scheme to clone bank/ATM cards and swap genuine foreign-currency notes for counterfeit bills.
The homeowner told reporters the cook — who had presented references and identification when hired and said he recently relocated from Abuja — began making unusual requests to the family’s nanny about a week after starting work. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the nanny recorded several conversations in which the cook allegedly described a criminal operation that produced counterfeit foreign currency and cloned ATM/bank cards, and instructed household staff to locate and photograph any foreign-currency notes or ATM cards in the home.
According to the homeowner, the cook urged the nanny to find higher-denomination foreign notes, promised generous shares of proceeds, and claimed he would protect her with religious reassurance and promises of large personal rewards. The cook also reportedly named multiple contacts and said many domestic workers in Lekki, Ikoyi and Victoria Island — and cooks from Cotonou — participated in the racket, adding that a printing facility near the Seme border supplied counterfeit forex.
Fearing the nanny might cooperate, the homeowner and nanny devised a controlled sting. The nanny supplied a photo of a US $100 bill after the cook asked to see one; soon after, the cook contacted a supplier and arranged for 1,000 counterfeit bills to be delivered. Plainclothes police, who had been alerted to the plan, were waiting and arrested the man who delivered the fake notes near the house gate; officers later arrested the cook after he handed the counterfeit bills to the nanny as part of the proposed swap.
“Everything was recorded,” the homeowner said. “She recorded their conversations and we had police waiting when the fake bills were produced.” The homeowner added that the household had no foreign currency on the premises prior to the sting.
Police confirmed two arrests and recovered counterfeit notes at the scene, the homeowner said. The suspects are currently in custody and the matter has been handed to investigators.
The homeowner urged other families and employers to be vigilant about seemingly trustworthy domestic hires and to take reports of suspicious requests seriously. “The cook was excellent at his job, which made it harder to believe at first,” the homeowner said. “But the recordings and the arrest show this was real.”
Efforts to obtain an official statement from the police were ongoing at the time of publication. The household also provided a photograph of the cook and the alleged accomplice, who the homeowner said worked as a steward for another household in Idejo.
The investigation continues, and authorities have been asked to confirm whether further arrests are expected and to release more details about the counterfeit operation and any wider network implicated.