Kwara State High Court on Monday convicted six persons for Internet fraud after the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) filed a slew of charges against the suspects who were all men.
Convicted fraudsters include Anthony Stephen, Timilehin Adeniyi, Olayiwola Ayomide Abdulmalik, Idris Muhammad, Ismail Mustapha, Oyekola Odunayo, and Anthony Stephen and were sentenced to prison with an option of paying fine.
Justice Sulaiman Akanbi sentenced four people: Messrs Idris, Ismail, Oyekola and Anthony while Justice Adebayo Yusuf convicted Abdulmalik and Adeniyi.
Read also: The Role of AI in Strengthening Africa’s Cybersecurity Landscape
Mr Idris was accused of impersonating “one Dorthy” to scam a foreigner into sending him $600 via cash app. He pleaded guilty to the charge.
“That you, Idris Muhammed, on or about the 13th day of July 2024 to 13th of August 2024 in Ilorin within the Jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did cheat by personation when you pretended to be one Dorthy Onanewlevel Palmer and fraudulently deceived one Lavergne Adriana Racheal to send $600 (six hundred dollars) to you via cash app and thereby committed an offense contrary to Section 321 of the Penal Code and punishable under Section 324 of the Penal Code,” EFCC stated in the charge sheet.
Ismail, on his part, adopted an alias, Myre Roddy, which he used to defraud victims on TikTok.
“That you, Ismail Temitope Mustapha (Alias: Myre Roddy), sometime between the years 2022 and 2023 within the judicial division of the High Court, did cheat by personation when you pretended to be one Myre Roddy via Tik Tok account @roddy0s3 and induced one Ron Woldron to part with the gross sum of $500 (five hundred dollars) via vide apple gift cards; and thereby committed an offense contrary to Section 321 of the Penal Code and punishable under Section 324 of the Penal Code,” the anti-graft agency charged.
Defendants pleaded guilty
The six defendants pleaded guilty to Internet fraud and impersonation charges filed by the nation’s anti-graft commission.
EFCC prosecutors Victoria Igodo and Andrew Akoja submitted all the items found on the convicts at the time of arrest and proceeds of the fraud to the court following their plea of guilt.
Consequently, Idris was sentenced to two years imprisonment with the option of paying N100,000. He was further ordered to surrender his iPhone 13 and $300 to the federal government.
Read also: Nigeria partners with Cisco to enhance cybersecurity
In a similar ruling, the court ordered Ismail to forfeit his iPhone 11 Promax and pay $300 to the federal government in addition to receiving a one-year prison sentence with the option of a N100,000 fine.
Odunay, guilty of a two-count fraud charge, received a two-year jail term with an option of N200,000 fine. He got two weeks community service for the second count or pay N50,000 fine.
The Court decided that the $300 and N34,900 that were taken from him would be forfeited to the Federal Government.
Anthony was ordered to forfeit his iPhone 12 and the $25 he received from his illegal actions to the government. He was sentenced to one year in prison with a N50,000 fine.
Similarly, Timilehin and Olayiwola were given a six-month prison sentence with N200,000 each option by Justice Yusuf.
