Two justices of the Kwara State High Court sitting in Ilorin have jailed five internet fraudsters.
The fraudsters were charged before Justices Mahmoud Abdulgafar and Adenike Akinpelu, by the Ilorin Zonal Commamd of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The convicts are Quadri Musibau Olamilekan from Ijebu Ode, Ogun State; John Adamson Oladele from Ijero Local Government Area of Ekiti State; Abiola Gbolahan Abiodun from Sapati-Ile, Asa Local Government Area of Kwara State; Orimadegun Ishola from Lagos State and Kayode Aderemi Awolola from Inisha, Odo-Otin Local Government Area of Osun State.
Quadri’s charge sheet read; “That you, Quadri Misbau Olamilekan, sometime between July, 2022 and May, 2022 or thereabout, in Ilorin, Kwara State, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did knowingly have under your control the sum of N6,505,000 in your Carbon Limited account with the name Quadri Olamilekan, which is reasonably suspected to have been unlawfully obtained and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 319 (A) of the Penal Code Law.”
The charge sheet against John read; “That you, John Adamson Oladele, sometime between February and May, 2023 at Ilorin, within the judicial division of the High Court, did cheat by personation, when you pretended to be one Eric Baines via your Google Mail hangout account: [email protected] and induced one Sophia Dumoulim to part with the gross sum of 560 CAD (Five Hundred and Sixty Canadian Dollars) through bitcoins and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 321 of the Penal Code and punishable under Section 324 of the Penal Code.”
The defendants, who were prosecuted on separate counts, pleaded guilty to their respective charges.
Following their ‘guilty plea’, Aliyu Adebayo, Andrew Akoja and Isabel Adeniran, who prosecuted the cases on behalf of the commission, narrated the circumstances that led to the arrest of the defendants and tendered the extra judicial statements and items recovered from the defendants at the point of arrest as exhibits, which were admitted in evidence.
The EFCC lawyers prayed the court to consider the uncontroverted evidence of the prosecution to hold that the essential ingredients of the crime had been established against the defendants to warrant their conviction.
The two justices, in their verdict, agreed with the prosecution and pronounced the defendants guilty.
Consequently, Justice Abdulgafar sentenced Quadri to 12 months imprisonment, which would be suspended and ordered the forfeiture of the convict’s two phones and the sum of $800 US dollars to the Federal Government.
In the same vein, the court sentenced John to six months imprisonment with option of N350,000 fine and ordered that the sum of $250 US dollars and one iPhone 12 belonging to the convict be forfeited to the federal government.
Justice Abdulgafar equally sentenced Abiola to 12 months imprisonment, which would be suspended and ordered the forfeiture of one iPhone 7 belonging to the convict and the sum of N210,000 to the Federal Government.
The judge also sentenced Orimadegun to six months imprisonment with option of N150,000 fine and ordered that the convict’s iPhone 12 and the sum of $400 US dollars be forfeited to the Federal Government
On the other hand, Justice Akinpelu sentenced Kayode to six months imprisonment with the option of a fine of N100,000 and ordered the forfeiture of the convict’s iPhone 13, one Dell laptop, and the sum of $40 US dollars to the federal government.
