THE Ilorin Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has secured the conviction of 31-year-old Bashiru Azeez Seyi over offences bordering on Internet fraud.
According to the statement released by the Commission’s spokesperson Wilson Uwagieren on Friday, October 14, Bashiru was sentenced to six months imprisonment.
Bashiru, a student in the Marketing Department of Kwara State Polytechnic, Ilorin, was prosecuted on one count by the EFCC before Justice Adebayo Yusuf of the Kwara State High Court sitting in Ilorin.
The charge reads: “That you, Bashiru Azeez Seyi, sometime between July, 2020 and January, 2022 in Ilorin, within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court knowingly had under your control the gross sum of $9,891 (Nine Thousand, Eight Hundred and Ninety One United States Dollars) which you knew to be unlawfully obtained and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 319A of the Penal Code”
Bashiru, a native of Oyan in Odo-Otin Local Government Area, Osun State, pleaded guilty to the charge.
According to the statement, counsel to the EFCC, Sesan Ola, reviewed the facts of the case and urged the court to convict the defendant as charged.
Justice Yusuf, in his judgment, sentenced the defendant to six months imprisonment with N200, 000 (Two Hundred Thousand Naira Only) as option of fine.
The judge also ordered the forfeiture of the convict’s car, one iPhone XR, and Hp laptop to the Federal Government.
Usman Mustapha is a solution journalist with International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: [email protected]. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M