FOUR Internet fraudsters have been convicted and sentenced to various jail terms for cybercrime and impersonation in Kaduna State.
Justice Darius Khobo of the Kaduna State High Court convicted the fraudsters on Thursday October 13, 2022.
The convicted fraudsters are: Jeremiah Fakolade, Tisan Ashei (aka Ji Hoon),Victor Oluwa (aka Smith Nicholson) and Daniel Cyprian Chima (aka Hadiza Khuriam).
According to a statement released on Thursday by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the four were convicted after pleading guilty to the offence.
One of the convicted, Fakolade, was sentenced to three months imprisonment with an option of fine of N100, 000.00 while Ashei (aka Ji Hoon) was sentenced to six months imprisonment with the same option of fine.
Ashei was also ordered to forfeit one Apple iPhone 7 and the sum of N 500,000.00 (Five Hundred Thousand Naira) to the Federal Government.
Another convicted fraudster, Oluwa, popularly known as Smith Nicholson, was sentenced to six months imprisonment with an option of N150,000.00 fine.
The court also ordered forfeiture of recovered proceeds of crime, N100,000, a Techno Spark 8 KG7h phone, and one Techno Camon 19 C16 from Oluwa.
Chima, who was the last on the list was sentenced to six months imprisonment with an option of N150, 000.00 fine. The court also asked him to forfeit to the Federal Government the sum of $100.
According to the EFCC, the fraudsters were arrested in Kaduna following intelligence on their alleged involvement in Internet-related fraud.
The charge against Fakolade reads: “That Miracle Festus sometime in July, 2022 in Kaduna within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court attempted to commit the offence of cheating by impersonation when he impersonated himself as an agent of Special Advocacy Weblog, a Bitcoin company and in that false identity attempted to cheat one M. Jahangir the sum of $250(Two Hundred and Fifty Dollars) and that you Jeremiah Fakolade abetted the said Miracle Festus in the commission of the said offence and you have thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 47 of the Kaduna State Penal Code Law 2017 and punishable under Section 309 of the same Law”.
Ashei was alleged to have between January and August 2022 at Kaduna within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, cheated one Alena of the total sum of $3000.00 (Three Thousand US Dollars) only when he pretended to be Ji Hoon; an Asian on several online social media applications, which he knew to be false and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 308 of the Kaduna State Penal Code Law of 2017 and punishable under Section 309 of the same Law.
The one count charge against Victor Oluwa reads: “Sometime between March to August, 2022 in Kaduna within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court did commit an offence to wit cheating by impersonation wherein you falsely represented yourself as Smith Nicholson (a military personnel from United States of America) and in such assumed identity induced one Quasia Conner from Texas to pay to you a total sum of $904(Nine Hundred and Four USD) through vanilla card and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 308 of the Kaduna State Penal Code Law, 2017 and punishable under Section 309 of the same Law”.
Chima was alleged to have, “sometime in September 2021 in Kaduna within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did commit an offence to wit; cheating by impersonation wherein he falsely represented himself as Hadiza Khuriam (a white woman) and in such assumed identity induced one Jauangir Abasi from Pakistan to pay to him a total sum of $100 (One Hundred USD), thereby committing an offence contrary to Section 308 of the Kaduna State Penal Code Law, 2017 and punishable under Section 309 of the same Law.
Usman Mustapha is a solution journalist with International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: [email protected]. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M