The Kwara State High Court, Ilorin has sentenced a 20-year-old boy, Oke Gideon, to 30 days imprisonment for his involvement in internet fraud.
Justice Mahmood Abdulgafar on Monday made the judgment having found him guilty of offences bordering on romance scam and internet fraud.
Gideon was arrested on May 4, 2021 by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ilorin Zonal Office, following the intelligence reports on his nefarious activities.
He was profiled and admitted to committing the crime. In his confessional statement dated May 6, 2021, Gideon admitted that he engaged in dating scam, love scam, and other internet fraud-related offences.
The Lagos-based boy was arraigned in court on Friday, July 2, 2021 on two counts, to which he pleaded guilty.
Count one of the charges reads: “That you, Oke Gideon (Jenna Cherry) between August 2020 and September 2020 in Ilorin within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, with intent to defraud, did obtain $150 (One Hundred and Fifty Dollars) worth gift from one Bradley Miller under false pretense that you are Jenna Cherry, a white female from Las Vegas, United States of America, which you knew to be false and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 1 (3) of Advance Fee Fraud and other fraud-related Offences Act, 2006.”
Following his plea, counsel to the EFCC, Sesan Ola, led one Sarah Audu, an operative of the Commission, to review the facts of the case. Audu narrated how Gideon was arrested based on actionable intelligence on the activities of internet fraudsters operating within Ilorin metropolis. She tendered the confessional statements of the convict as well as fraudulent messages printed from his email, which were all admitted in evidence.
However, the Judge gave the convict an option of fine of N50,000 (Fifty Thousand Naira) and ordered that his iPhone 6 and HP laptop which were used as instruments in the crime be forfeited to the Federal Government.