Fraud: Court sentences 26-year-old, one other to jail in Kwara

Justice Mahmud Abdulgafar of the Kwara State High Court in Ilorin has sentenced a 26-year-old photography apprentice, Amole Samuel and one Adeboye Abel Oluwapelumi to jail terms, having found them guilty of offences bordering on cybercrime.

Samuel is Akinyele Local Government Area of Ibadan, Oyo State while Oluwapelumi is from Irepodun Local Government Area of Kwara State.

Samuel and Oluwapelumi, who are to spend their terms in custody of the Nigerian Correctional Centre, started their journey to jail on May 4, 2023 when the duo were arrested in Ilorin upon intelligence on their fraudulent activities by operatives of the Ilorin Zonal Command of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The anti-graft agency on Tuesday, June 13, 2023 arraigned the accused on separate charges, to which they pleaded guilty to their respective charges.

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The charge against Samuel read: “That you, Amole Samuel Anuoluwapo, sometime in 2023, in Ilorin, Kwara State within the jurisdiction of this honorable court, did attempt to cheat by personation when you pretended to be a white female via Google Voice with Email Address”[email protected] which you used to communicate with a white male with Email Address “[email protected]” in order to induce him to send you money and thereby committed an offence contrary to section 95 of the Penal Code Law and Punishable under section 324 of the same Law.”
Similarly, particulars of count 2 of the charge against Oluwapelumi read: “That you, Adeboye Abel Oluwapelumi, sometime between May 2022 and February 2023 in Ilorin, Kwara State, within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, knowingly had under your control the sum of N218,000.00 (Two Hundred and Eighteen Thousand Naira Only) which is reasonably suspected to be unlawfully obtained and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 319A of the Penal Code Law.”

Upon their “guilty pleas”, counsel to the EFCC Anselm Ozioko (Jnr.) led witnesses who are operatives of the Commission in evidence to review the facts of the cases. The witnesses narrated the circumstances surrounding the arrest of the defendants and tendered their extra-judicial statements, phones and a sum of N218, 000 (Two Hundred and Eighteen Thousand Naira Only), which Adeboye benefited from the crime and were admitted in evidence by the court.

Thereafter, Ozioko (Jnr.) prayed the court to hold that the prosecution had established essential ingredients of the case to warrant the conviction of the defendants.

In his judgment, Justice Abdulgafar held that the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt, thereby pronounced the defendants guilty of their respective charge.

Thereafter, the judge sentenced Samuel to six months imprisonment, which should be suspended. He also ordered that the iphone 7plus, which was recovered from him at the point of arrest be forfeited to the Federal Government.

In the same vein, Justice Abdulgafar sentenced Oluwapelumi to six months imprisonment on count 1 and one year imprisonment on count 2, which should also be suspended.

In addition, the court ordered that one iphone 11 recovered from him at the point of arrest and the sum of N218,000 (Two Hundred and Eighteen Thousand Naira Only) which he benefited from his criminal activities be forfeited to the Federal Government.