The Ilorin Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has secured the conviction of a 24-year-old tiler, Yusuf Ibrahim from Ajeromi Ifelodun Local Government Area of Lagos State over offences bordering on cybercrime.
Yusuf was convicted alongside of Abdulazeez Taofeek Ademola from Oyan in Odo-Otin Local Government Area of Osun State and Nurudeen Abdulmajeed from Ile-odo compound, Lasoju in Asa Local Government Area of Kwara State by Justice Mahmoud Abdulgafar of the Kwara State High Court in Ilorin
The trio of Yusuf, Abdulazeez and Nurudeen had upon arraignment, pleaded guilty to the separate charge preferred against them by the anti-graft agency.
The charge against Yusuf reads:
“That you, Yusuf Olalekan Ibrahim, sometime between May 2022 and November 2022 in Ilorin, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did cheat by personating when you pretended to be one Krissy Rivera, a female resident of the United States of America with call mobile +16059499190 and Gmail account krissyrivera0,@gmail.com and in that guise induced one Keith, a male resident of the United States of America to send you Apple gifts cards worth the sum of $375 (Three Hundred and Seventy-Five Dollars) and thereby committed an offence contrary to section 321 of the Penal Code Law and Punishable under section 324 of the Penal Code “
Count 2 of the charge against Abdulazeez reads:
“That you, Abdulazeez Taofeek Ademola, sometime between February and December 2020 at Ilorin, within the judicial division of the High Court, did knowingly had under your control, the gross sum of N9,254,752 (Nine Million, Two Hundred and Fifty-Two Thousand, Seven Hundred and Fifty-Four Naira Only) deposited in your Guaranty Trust Bank account No. 0247893985, which is reasonably suspected to have unlawfully obtained and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 319 (a) of the Penal Code”
The charge against Nurudeen reads:
“That you, Nurudeen Abdulmajeed sometime in April 2023, in Ilorin, Kwara State within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court did cheat by personating when you pretended to be one Kelly Lochlan via your Instagram App and fraudulently deceived Colby Myers to send 240 Australian Dollars to you, thereby committed an offence contrary to section 321 of the Penal Code Law and Punishable under section 324 of the same law “
In the course of the trial, counsel to the EFCC, Mustapha Kaigama urged the court to take judicial notice of the admittance of guilt by the defendants and the uncontroverted evidence adduced by the prosecution to convict them as charged.
Justice Abdulgafar in his judgment on Monday, July 10, 2023, agreed that the prosecution had established a prima facie case against the defendants to warrant their conviction.
Consequently, the Judge sentenced Yusuf to six months of suspended imprisonment and ordered that one iPhone 12 pro max and the sum of $200 (Two Hundred United States Dollars) be forfeited to the Federal Government.
Similarly, Abdulazeez was sentenced to six months of suspended imprisonment at the Nigerian Correctional Centre. The judge also ordered that one iPhone 11 Promax, iPhone x, HP laptop, one MacBook, one Toyota Camry and the sum of $100 (One Thousand United States Dollars) from which he benefited from the crime be forfeited to the Federal Government.
Justice Abdulgafar equally sentenced Nurudeen to six months of suspended imprisonment at the Nigerian Correctional Centre.
The court also ordered that one iPhone 6 and the sum of $100 (One Hundred United States Dollars) which he benefited from the proceed of unlawful activity be forfeited to the Federal Government.
Dominica Nwabufo
