Justice A.A Bello of the Kaduna State High court has convicted and sentenced three internet fraudsters and one currency counterfeiter to fifteen( 15) years imprisonment.
They were jailed on Thursday, September 29, 2022, after pleading guilty to separate criminal charges, upon their arraignment by the Kaduna Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
The four fraudsters are Alade Olalekan Hezekiah, Joseph Truman, Ashei Bobai Bartholomew and Aliyu Adamu.
The defendants pleaded guilty to their respective charges when they were read to each one of them.
Based on their pleas, prosecution counsel, M. Lawal prayed the court to convict and sentence them accordingly. However, defence counsels: Godwin .O. Ochai, Abubakar.A. Muhammad, Abdulmalik.A. Taiwo and Daniel Bulusson sought the mercy of the court, pleading that the defendants are first-time offenders and remorseful
The judge, after listening to all counsels, sentenced and convicted Hezekiah to five years imprisonment or pay a fine of N150,000.00 (One Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira) .He forfeited his GSM phones and the sum of $200 (Two Hundred United States dollars) to the Federal Government.
Truman bagged six months imprisonment or the option of paying a fine of N150,000.00 (One Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira). He also forfeited his phone and the sum of $200.00(Two Hundred USD) to the government. .
Justice Bello convicted and sentenced Bartholomew to five years imprisonment with an option of fine of N100,000.00 (One Hundred Thousand Naira). He equally forfeited his phones and the sum of $200.00(Two Hundred US Dollars) to the government.
Adamu was convicted for currency counterfeiting and sentenced to five years imprisonment or pay a fine of N 150,000.00.
Three of the convicts; Hezekiah, Truman and Bartholomew were arrested for internet-related offences, while Aliyu was arrested by officers of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for being in possession of fake dollars printing paper and N1000 counterfeit bank notes, totalling N873,000 ( Eight Hundred and Seventy Three Thousand Naira). He was handed over to the EFCC for further investigation and prosecution. They were all prosecuted and jailed.
Meanwhile, a businessman, Olumide Otule was on Wednesday, September 29, 2022 arraigned before Justice Bello on three- count charges bordering on criminal breach of trust by the Kaduna Zonal Command of the EFCC.
He was docked for procuring a fake visa for Dr. Buhari Yahaya Dauda, who allegedly paid him for a travelling visa to Malta.
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