Justice M. Itsueli of Edo State High Court sitting in Benin City, Edo State on Thursday, July 27, 2023, convicted and sentenced Kelvin Ifeanyi Aneke and Leonard Emmanuel Osaretin to prison for fraud.
They were arraigned on separate one-count charges of unlawful possession of fraudulent documents by the Benin Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
They were arrested based on intelligence received regarding their nefarious activities. During investigations, Aneke, 23, was discovered to have impersonated Calvin Hills, an American national, to defraud unsuspecting victims. On his part, Osaretin, 25, is into romance scams as he created a fictitious female Instagram account with the name anaroberts 2221 to defraud unsuspecting victims.
The charge against Kelvin Ifeanyi Aneke reads: “that you, Kelvin Ifeanyi Aneke (m) sometime in May 2023 at Benin City, Edo State within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court did have in your possession documents which you knew or ought to have known to contain a false pretence and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 6 and Section 8 of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006 and punishable under Section 1(3)of the same Act”.
Upon arraignment, the defendants pleaded guilty to their respective charges, prompting the prosecution counsel, K.Y Bello to ask the court to convict and sentence them accordingly. However, counsel to the defendants pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy as the defendants were first-time offenders.
Justice Itsueli convicted and sentenced the duo to three years imprisonment with an option of Two Hundred Thousand Naira fine. In addition, they are to forfeit their phones and balance in their bank accounts, being proceeds of crime, to the Federal Government of Nigeria.