The Ibadan Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has secured the conviction and sentencing of seventeen (17) internet fraudsters to various jail terms.
They were jailed between January 8 and 28, 2024 after being arraigned before Justice Olusola Adetujoye of the Oyo State High Court, Ibadan, and Justice A.A. Babawale of the Ogun State High Court, sitting in Abeokuta on a separate lone count charge each.
The convicts are Akinbode Abiodun, Samad Tijani Owolabi, Ademola Olabamiji Quadri, Evewiekpoamare Tivere Jackson, Adeagbo Stephen Adegbenro, Adesanya Olamilekan Dare, Yusuf Saka Olaoluwatobi, Akinbode Adedolapo Joshua, Musa Ayinde Olorunnisola and Lawal Mohammed Segun.
Contained in a statement by the commission’s Head, Media & Publicity, Dele Oyewale, one of the charges read: “That you Adesanya Olamilekan Dare ‘M’ on or about 24th May 2023, at Ibadan, Oyo State, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, fraudulently impersonated by representing yourself to be a white man by the name Daryl Huffman from United States of America to one Angie Shepard, through your Facebook account with email address: daryhuffman1960@gmail.com, and other pretences, which pretences you knew to be false, thereby committed offence of personation contrary to Section 484 of the Criminal Code Law Cap 38, Laws of Oyo State, 2000.”
They all pleaded guilty to the charges when they were read to them.
Consequently, facts of the cases were reviewed by the prosecution counsels as indicting documents, and other incriminating materials were tendered as shreds of evidence before the courts. Prosecution counsels further prayed to the courts to convict and sentence the defendants accordingly.
Upon the prayers of the prosecution counsels, Justice Babawale convicted and sentenced Sobbur to one-year imprisonment without an option of fine. Also, Justice Adetujoye convicted and sentenced Olorunnisola to two months imprisonment; and Jimoh, Quam, Ochola, Adeyinka, Ayomipo, Bugama, Segun, and Olaoluwatobi to one month jail term each.
Furthermore, Joshua, Dare, Adegbenro, and Abiodun were convicted and sentenced to two weeks imprisonment each without an option of fine while Owolabi, Quadri, and Jackson bagged two weeks of community service each.
The courts also ordered that the convicts restitute their various victims, including Owolabi who is to pay the sum of N11, 749, 823.36 (Eleven Million, Seven Hundred and Forty-nine Thousand, Eight Hundred and Twenty-three Naira, Thirty-six Kobo) as restitution.
Items forfeited by the convicts to the Federal Government of Nigeria included one gold colour Lexus ES 330 with Registration number: FKG 184 HZ, one unregistered silver colour Toyota Corolla 2006 model, one black colour Honda Pilot 2004 model with registration number: LSR 783 HW and Chassis number: 2HKYF18464H598117 and one black Lexus ES 300 2002 model with registration number: APP 27 GT with chassis number: JTHBF30G020048119 among others.
All the convicts bagged their imprisonment when they were arrested by operatives of the Ibadan Zonal Command of the EFCC for internet-related activities. They were thereafter charged to court and convicted.
In a related development, the Oyo State Command of the Nigeria Police Force handed over four suspected internet fraudsters to the Ibadan Zonal Command of the EFCC on January 26, 2024.
The suspects are Abiodun Ajayi, Salako Saheed, Qudus Owolabi, and Abiodun Ridwan.
They were arrested in Soka area of Ibadan, Oyo State following actionable intelligence on suspected fraudulent internet-related activities.
Items recovered from them include one unregistered Toyota Camry, one gold colour Toyota Camry with Registration number: APP 192 CB, two laptops, and five mobile phones among others.
They would be charged in court as soon as investigations are concluded.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has fulfilled its commitment to justice by handing over $22,000 recovered from a convicted internet fraudster, Hakeem Olanrewaju, to the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI).
In a statement released on Saturday, EFCC spokesperson, Dele Oyewale announced that the handover took place on Friday in Lagos State.
“We are delighted to be handing over this proceeds of crime today,” remarked the Acting Director of the EFCC Lagos Zonal Command, Michael Wetkas. “The EFCC is willing and always ready to do more.”
At the handover event, FBI’s Legal Attaché Charles Smith praised the EFCC for its collaborative efforts.
“The EFCC and FBI work collaboratively together, and it is thanks to the EFCC that we can recover funds of this nature, especially from Business Email Compromise, BEC,” stated Smith.
“This type of crime cripples businesses in the US, and for them to recover the money within one to two years gives hope to the affected companies and brings some level of justice, even if not all subjects have been identified.”
Smith expressed hope for continued cooperation between the two agencies, emphasising the FBI’s readiness to support investigations.
Justice Nicholas Oweibo of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, had previously ordered the restitution of the recovered money to Olanrewaju’s victim in the US.
Oyo State Commissioner of Police, Hamzat Adebola, on Thursday, paraded the former Chairman of the Park Management System, Lamidi Mukaila, commonly known as Auxiliary.
The arrest came following months of pursuit after the Department of State Services detained Auxiliary at his Olodo residence in Ibadan, the state capital, on the penultimate Tuesday.
Mukaila had been on the run since the police declared him wanted for his alleged involvement in a string of armed robbery, kidnapping, and murder cases.
Adebola, addressing the media while parading the suspect at the state police command, emphasised that Mukaila would face charges in court.
He stated, “Discreet intelligence-led search commenced for the sacked PMS chieftain with the help of technology, collaborative efforts with sister services and community policing, many locations were identified, traced and combed for months until his recent arrest in a concerted effort with our sister services.”
The Commissioner outlined the extensive list of exhibits recovered from Mukaila’s possession at his Diamond Hotel residence around Alakia-Isebo Egbeda under Egbeda Local Government Area.
The recovered items include one AK-47 Rifle, four AK-47 magazines, 84 live AK-47 Ammunitions, 19 pump-action rifles, one Barreta pistol, seven cut-to-size guns, one English-made Barrel Gun, 724 live cartridges, 25 cutlasses, Seven Jack knives, 33 mobile phones, one Samsung laptop, charms, one Mazda Bus, one Toyota Sienna, and a cash sum of N3,450,000.00.
Continuing, the Police chief affirmed that Mukaila would be charged to court for the offenses committed.
He expressed gratitude to the public for providing credible information to help curb crime in the state.
Adebola also reiterated the commitment of the command to deal decisively with any criminally motivated individual or group aiming to regress the state into the historical dark ages of the “Wild West.”
A Federal Capital Territory High Court sitting in Abuja has delivered its verdict in the case involving Mrs. Ramat Mba, a mother of five children, accused of forging the signature of the late Abba Kyari, former Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari.
Presiding over the case, Justice Ibrahim Mohammad deferred Mrs. Mba’s sentencing until Thursday, the 16th of May, 2024. However, he directed that she be remanded in Suleja Correctional Centre.
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) had initially arraigned Mrs. Mba in June 2022 on a 5-count charge including cheating, fraud, and forgery, contravening various sections of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act 200 and the Penal Code Cap 89 laws of Northern Nigeria.
During the trial, ICPC’s Prosecutor, Mr. Hamza Sani, presented evidence detailing how Mrs. Mba allegedly deceived job seekers by promising them employment with government agencies such as the Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS), National Space Research Development Agency (NASRDA), and the ICPC.
Specifically, Mrs. Mba was accused of fraudulently inducing a job seeker to pay N700,000 into her private account under the guise of securing employment at the National Space Research and Development Agency.
Moreover, documentary evidence revealed that Mrs. Mba forged a letterhead from the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President and Abba Kyari’s signature.
The forged letter, addressed to the Chairman of ICPC, requested the recruitment of three individuals by the Commission.
However, a correspondence from the late Chief of Staff distanced his office from authorising such a letter.
In his judgment, Justice Ibrahim Muhammad convicted Mrs. Mba on counts 1, 2, 3, and 5, related to cheating and forgery, while she was discharged on count 4, which pertains to felony.