KWARA: SIX INTERNET FRAUDSTERS JAILED IN ILORIN
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Six individuals have been sentenced to prison for internet fraud in Ilorin, the capital of Kwara State.
Those convicted are Akingbehin Temitope Oluwaseun, Ajayi Elijah Olaoluwa, Samson Babatunde Ilesanmi, Quadri Olamilekan Lamido, Kolawole Kehinde Moses, and Olatunji Elijah Olabisi.
The convictions were handed down by Justices Haleema Saleeman and Mahmud Abdulgafar of the Kwara State High Court in Ilorin.
The Ilorin Zonal Office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) prosecuted the offenders on charges including retention of proceeds from criminal activities, cheating, impersonation, and internet fraud.
Oluwaseyi, a 25-year-old car dealer, along with Olaoluwa, Ilesanmi, and Lamidi, was tried before Justice Saleeman, while Moses and Olabisi were prosecuted by Justice Abdulgafar.
The charge sheet against Oluwaseyi reads, “That you, Akingbehin Temitope Oluwaseyi, sometime between 2021 and 2024 at Offa, within the judicial division of the Kwara State High Court, did retain the control of the gross sum of N2,707,562 in your Opay account number 09064776590 being the sum paid to you which you knew to be proceed of criminal conduct, thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 17(a) and (b) of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (Establishment) Act 2004.”
The charge sheet of Ilesanmi read,
“That you, Samson Babatunde Ilesanmi (a.k.a Angela Sara Maya) sometimes in 2023 within the judicial division of the Kwara State High Court did cheat by personation when you pretended to be one Angela Sara Maya vide Facebook messenger account and induced one Larry Guerrero to part with the sum of $250 US dollars, thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 321 and punishable under Section 324 of the Penal Code Laws of Northern Nigeria.”
They all pleaded “guilty” to the charges when they were read to them, after which prosecution counsel, Sesan Ola and Andrew Akoja reviewed the facts of the cases, presented witnesses and tendered the extra-judicial statements of the defendants.
They also tendered in evidence items recovered from them at the point of arrest and the monetary proceeds of their unlawful activities.
Satisfied that the cases against them have been proven beyond every reasonable doubt, Justice Saleeman sentenced Oluwaseyi to one year imprisonment on count one or to pay a fine of one million naira and also a one year imprisonment on count two or to pay a fine of N707,562.
In addition, he forfeited his two phones, being the tools of his crime and a Toyota Camry car, 2009 Model to the Federal government.
He committed Olaoluwa to one year imprisonment or to pay a fine of N500,000 in addition to the forfeiture of his iPhone 13 Promax, being the tool of his unlawful activities and the sum of $410 US dollars to the federal government.
Ilesanmi was sentenced to four months in prison or given the option to pay a fine of N250,000. Additionally, $150 and two phones, used in his criminal activities, were confiscated and forfeited to the federal government.
Lamidi received a four-month prison sentence or a fine of N150,000 for the first count, three months or N100,000 for the second, and two months or N50,000 for the third. These sentences are to run concurrently, and he forfeited €325, $150 Canadian dollars, and two phones, all tools of his crime, to the federal government.
Justice Abdulgafar handed Moses a three-month suspended sentence on two counts. Along with this, N330,000, $80, and an iPhone 12 Pro Max, used as instruments of his crime, were forfeited to the federal government.
In Olabisi’s case, the judge ordered him to pay $25, representing the outstanding restitution amount from his criminal activities. Furthermore, $70 and an iPhone XR, identified as tools of his crime, were confiscated and forfeited to the federal government.
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