Justice H.L Abba-Aliyu of the Federal Capital
Territory (FCT) High Court, Jabi, Abuja on Wednesday, December 11, 2024
convicted and sentenced one Praise Humphrey
Igbo (a.k.a) Jessica Allen to one year imprisonment for fraud.
He was prosecuted by the Economic and Financial
Crimes, EFCC on a one-count charge, bordering on internet crime,
criminal impersonation, obtaining money under false pretence and money
laundering to the tune of $115,000 (One Hundred and Fifteen
Thousand United States Dollars).
His charge reads: “That you, Praise
Humphrey Igbo sometime in 2022 in Abuja within the jurisdiction of this
honorable court, with intent to defraud, did cheat by pretending to be one
Jesisca Allen, a successful crypto currency trader in the United State of
America and in that assumed character, fraudulently obtained 5.26 Bitcoins
worth One Hundred and Fifteen Thousand United State Dollars ($115,000) by false
pretence, property of Aaron Baker, thereby committed an offence contrary
to Section 321 of the Penal Code Act Abuja, Cap 532 LFN 2004 and
punishable under Section 324 of the same Act.”
He pled “guilty” to the charge when it was
read to him upon which prosecution counsel, M.K Hussain prayed the
court to convict and sentence him accordingly.
Justice Abba-Aliyu convicted and sentenced him to one
year imprisonment or to pay a fine of one million naira (N1,000,000).
She further ruled that the sum of $16, 110 and $67,487.79
worth of cryptocurrency recovered from him and the money
in his bank account be used
to restitute his victim through the American Embassy.
Igbo’s journey to the Correctional Centre
started when a petitioner, East Baton Rouge Parish (Aaron Bakker), an
American, alleged that a the convict pretending to be one Jessica Allen, a
purported crypto investor, stole $115,000 worth of Bitcoin from him
on Blockchain.com after presenting an investment opportunity
to him, which turned out to the fake.
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