A man, identified as Adeshina Michael Oluwafemi, who posed as a white man in an attempt to defraud his unsuspecting victims, on Wednesday bagged a six-month jail term for cyber fraud.
Adeshina, who hails from Ekiti State, South-West Nigeria, was convicted and sentenced to six months imprisonment by Justice Adenike Akinpelu of the Kwara State High Court in Ilorin, after the judge found him guilty of one count charge levelled against him by the Ilorin Zonal command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
The charge reads: “That you, Adeshina Michael Oluwafemi (a.k,a Viki Ron) Sometime in May 2020 or thereabout at Ilorin, Kwara State, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court attempted to commit an offence of cheating by impersonation, by pretending and representing yourself to be a white man called Viki Ron who was in a relationship with a White Woman, Carol Richard as it is contained in your Gmail account: ronv553@gmail.comand thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 95 of the Penal Code Laws of Northern Nigeria”
The defendant pleaded guilty when the charge was read to him in court.
Following his guilty plea, counsel to the EFCC, Aliyu Adebayo, called a witness who is an operative of the EFCC to review the facts of the case.
The witness narrated how the defendant was arrested based on credible intelligence and tendered the defendant’s Hauwel Phone, fraudulent messages printed from his device as well as his extra-judicial statements which were admitted in evidence.
Adebayo, thereafter urged the court to consider the plea of the defendant, the extra-judicial statements and all the exhibits tendered and hold that the prosecution has proved its case and convicted the defendant as charged.
In his judgement, Justice Akinpelu said the court was satisfied with the case of the prosecution and pronounced Adeshina guilty of the charge.
The judge sentenced the defendant to six months imprisonment with an option of fine of N100,000.
The court also ordered the forfeiture of the convict’s Hauwel Phone which was used to perpetrate the crime to the Federal Government.