The Corporate Affairs Commission says it has busted 189 fake companies used to secure land allocations in the Federal Capital Territory.

The Registrar General of the commission, Hussaini Magaji, while speaking at a press briefing in Abuja, said the discovery was made following a complaint from the Federal Capital Territory Administration to verify the status of a non-existing company seeking land allocation.

He explained that the discovery of the non-existent company led him to investigate further, resulting in the identification of other companies.

Magaji added that two suspects including a lawyer have been arrested and a cartel involving staff of Abuja Geographical Information System, lawyers, and the commission have been identified.

He said, “Let me use this opportunity to inform the public that one of the major milestones achieved so far since I assumed office, is our ability to bust a cartel or a link of individuals that are creating havoc for the commission.

“This cartel creates companies through collaboration with some lawyers claiming to be accredited agents of the commission and staff of Abuja Geographical Information System to secure land allocations in the FCT and we only knew this crime after a complaint from the Federal Capital Territory Administration asking us to verify some applications made by some entities, which turned out to be non-existent on our system.

“With the information available to us, I gave a directive on the issue and we have so far identified 189 fake companies used to secure land allocation in the FCT. We have also facilitated the arrest of two suspects.

“In the course of our investigation and research, we found that the companies do not exist. And with the collaboration of security agents, we arrested a suspect and by arresting him, he has volunteered some information and from that, we have gotten a clue that something like this is happening and we are working hard to stop this menace.”