Eight Yahoo Boys Bag Jail Terms For Impersonation
Justices Chinyere Nwecheonu, A.A Akobi A.I. Kutigi and V.S Garba of the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Abuja, convicted and sentenced eight internet fraudsters to one-year imprisonment and one-month imprisonment.
EFCC’s Spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren, disclosed this development in a statement on Thursday.
Five of the convicts arraigned before Justice Nwecheonwu of the FCT High Court, Kuje, on one count charge each are Emmanuel Ogochukwu, Ugochukwu Mathias and Aderele Adekunle, Abdullahi Adebola Ayinde and Matthew Ushie Adie.
Matthew Ushie Adie, sometime in 2023 presented himself as a citizen of the United Kingdom on Facebook and defrauded one Jeremy Justice Meir of the sum of Four Million, Four Hundred and Ten Thousand Naira Only (N4,410,000).
Emmanuel Ogochukwu, pretending to be Kob Sook Dennis, cheated on Yen Tran on Facebook.
Ugochukwu Mathias also pretended to be Arjun Sharma on Instagram and cheated unsuspecting females of the sum of Four Hundred US Dollars ($400).
Aderele Adekunle, pretending to be one Finalisa, the daughter of one Lee Bruce, a contractor from Hong Kong, obtained the sum of Three Thousand Renminbi (3000 RMB), while Abdullahi Adebola Ayinde created an Instagram account in the name of an American actor, Tom Cruise and in that assumed character obtained the sum of Eighty US Dollars ($80) from one Anne Line Bergh alias Sarafina Carly, a Norwegian citizen.
Justice Nwecheonu sentenced all five defendants to one year in prison with options of fine as follows: Emmanuel Ogochukwu and Abdullahi both bagged a fine of N200,000 each, while Aderele is to pay N300,000 fine. Ugochukwu and Adie were fined N250,000 each. In addition, all convicts are to forfeit the proceeds of their crime to the Federal Government.
In the same vein, one Raphael Samuel, Maduabuchi, who was prosecuted before Justice A.A Akobi of the FCT High Court Gwagwalada on a one-count charge for cheating by impersonation was sentenced to community service including cutting the grass within the court premises, after pleading guilty to the charge. Also, his Samsung Galaxy S9 phone is to be forfeited to the Federal Government.
He presented himself as a white woman named ‘plasticjuggernaut787’ from the United States of America to obtain a total sum of Five Hundred United States Dollars ($500) from one Damonnava as transport fare to meet him.
Also, Justice A.I. Kutigi of the FCT High Court Jabi, Abuja convicted one Prince David on a one-count charge of cheating by impersonation when he created a Reddit application with nude female pictures with the name Ladiphilipol and obtained One Hundred and Fifty Dollars ($150) from one Josef, pretending to be in a romantic relationship with him. He was sentenced to one month in prison with an N50,000 option of fine.
Similarly, one Igbafen Ifijen was convicted by Justice V.S Garba of FCT High Court Kuje for cheating by impersonation when he presented himself as a white man from Germany using a dating site called ‘Lovoo’ and benefitted the sum of EUR3,145 (Three Thousand One Hundred and Forty-Five Euro) only from one Jutta, Audrea and Eike, all German women.
The offense is contrary to Section 321 of the Penal Code Act, Laws of the Federation (Abuja) 1990 and punishable under Section 324 of the same Act, therefore, he was sentenced to a one-year jail term with an option Seventy-Five Thousand Naira fine.
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