Six jailed for internet fraud in Kwara

Six persons have been convicted of internet fraud by two courts in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital.

The Ilorin Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Monday, October 14, 2024, secured the conviction of the six persons before Justices Sulaiman Akanbi and Adebayo Yusuf of the Kwara State High Court in Ilorin.

The convicts are Idris Muhammed, Ismail Temitope Mustapha, Oyekola Odunayo, Anthony Slyvester Stephen, Timilehin Adeniyi and Olayiwola Ayomide Abdulmalik.

Judge Akanbi jailed Idris, Ismail, Oyekola and Anthony, while the duo Timilehin and Olayiwola were convicted by Judge Yusuf.

The charge against Idris reads: “That you, IDRIS MUHAMMED, on or about the 13th day of July 2024 to 13th August 2024 at Ilorin within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, cheated by personation when you impersonated Dorthy Onanewlevel Palmer. and fraudulently deceived one Lavergne Adriana Racheal into sending you $600 (six hundred dollars) via a cash app, thereby committing an offense contrary to Article 321 of the Criminal Code and punishable under Article 324 of the Criminal Code.

From Ismail’s side, the complaint reads: “That you, Ismail Temitope Mustapha (alias: Myre Roddy) sometime between the year 2022 and 2023 within the Judicial Branch of the Supreme Court, cheated by personation when you pretended to be one Myre Roddy vide Tik Tok account @roddy0s3 and got one Ron Woldron to part with the gross amount of $500 (five hundred dollars) via Apple gift cards; and has committed an offense that is contrary to Article 321 of the Criminal Code and is punishable under Article 324 of the Criminal Code.”

The defendants pleaded guilty to their respective charges, and upon their pleas, counsel for the prosecution, Andrew Akoja and Victoria Igodo, produced the statements of the defendants, the items recovered from them at the time of arrest and the monies that they had benefited from the illegal activities that the defendants had committed. court admitted as evidence.

Consequently, Justice Akanbi sentenced Idris to two years in prison with an option of N100,000 fine and ordered the forfeiture of his iPhone 13, and the sum of $300 US dollars he collected as restitution to the Federal Government.

The court sentenced Ismail to one year in prison with an option of a fine of N100,000 and ordered the forfeiture of his iPhone 11 Promax and $300USD to the Federal Government.

Oyekola was also given one year imprisonment on count one with an option of N100,000, two years imprisonment on count two with an option of N200,000 and two weeks community service on count three and a fine of N50,000.

The judge also ordered that the sum of $300 and N34,900 recovered from him be forfeited to the Federal Government.

Similarly, the court sentenced Anthony to one year in prison with an option of N50,000 fine and ordered that the iPhone 12 and the amount of $25 US dollars he benefited from the unlawful activities be forfeited to the Federal Government.

In a similar development, Justice Yusuf sentenced the duo of Timilehin and Olayiwola to six months in prison with an option of a fine of N200,000 each.

The phones of the convicts and the money they brought as restitution were forfeited to the Federal Government, according to a statement by the Head, Media and Publicity of the commission, Dele Oyewale, on Wednesday.