A professional football player, Jacob Wisdom Chukwuemeka, has been sentenced to six years jail term for offences bordering on internet fraud and possession of fraudulent funds.
Chukwuemeka was convicted and sentenced on Monday, October 3, by Justice Muhammed Sani of the Federal High Court, Ilorin.
According to a statement the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) released on Wednesday, October 5, Chukwuemeka was jailed after pleading guilty to a two-count charge related to fraud.
The convict was accused of, between May 6, 2021 and April 22, 2022, retaining the control of the gross sum of N792,454 in his bank account number 3137249795, which he knew to be proceeds of criminal conduct, thereby committing an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 17 (a) and (b) of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (Establishment) Act 2004.
He pleaded guilty to the charge when it was read to him.
Consequent on his plea, prosecuting counsel, Aliyu Adebayo, prayed the court to convict and sentence him as charged.
Justice Sani sentenced Chukwuemeka to three years imprisonment each on count one and two respectively.
He said that the two counts would run concurrently, but was, however, given an option of fine of N792,454 on count one, and N300,000 on count two.
The commission ordered that the iphone 11 he used to commit the crime and a draft of N250,000 recovered from him be forfeited to the Federal government.
The court also ordered Jacob to restitute his victim the sum of N524,454 being the balance of the proceeds of his fraudulent dealings against him.
Usman Mustapha is a solution journalist with International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: [email protected]. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M