Justice
O.O. Abike-Fadipe of the Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos, on
Tuesday, October 8, 2024, convicted and sentenced one Nonso Joseph Ekeocha to
one year imprisonment for possession of fraudulent documents.
Ekeocha
was prosecuted by the Lagos Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission, EFCC, on a one-count charge bordering on possession of fraudulent
documents used to perpetrate romance scam.
The
count reads: "Nonso Joseph Ekeocha, on or about the 27th June, 2024 in
Lagos, within the judicial division of this Honourable Court, with intent to
defraud, had in your possession, 'Instagram Profile Account', wherein you
represented yourself as Ronald Gregory, and other related documents for an
online dating scam, which you knew or ought to know to be false,”
He
pleaded "guilty" to the charge.
Following
his guilty plea, the prosecution counsel, I. G. Akhanolu, prayed the court to
call his witness, Ismail Saifullahi, an operative of the Commission, to
give a review of the facts.
Saifullahi
said the defendant was arrested alongside others who engaged in
computer-related fraud in Lagos on June 29, 2024.
"Upon
his arrest, he was brought to the EFCC office. Items recovered from him at the
point of arrest were iPhone 12 pro max and Samsung S-10 phones, which were
analysed through a forensic examination.
“
The analysis revealed fraudulent documents about the defendant’s involvement in
an online dating scam, where he represented himself as a male American
bearing Ronald Gregory.
"He
informed the Commission that he usually carried out the fraudulent
activities by sending love messages randomly online to members of the
public and that those who showed interest in having a relationship were asked
for financial assistance.”
Akhanolu
further applied to tender, in evidence, the defendant’s extrajudicial statement
as well as the bundle of fraudulent documents printed out from his mobile
phones.
Justice
Fadipe admitted them as exhibits and convicted him as charged.
When
he was given the opportunity to address the court, Nonso pleaded with the court
to “temper justice with mercy”, promising never to engage in internet fraud
again.
Consequently,
Justice Fadipe sentenced him to one-year imprisonment, with an option of
N500,000.00 and 50 hours community service.
The
judge also ordered that both the Iphone 12 pro max and Samsung S-10 recovered
from him be forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria.
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