Justice Deinde I.
Dipeolu of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, on Monday, January
22, 2024 convicted and sentenced one
Ohaguim Ifeanyi Emmanuel to one year imprisonment for dating scam.
Emmanuel, a graduate of Computer Science from Chukwuemeka
Odumegwu University, Uli, Anambra State , was arraigned by the Lagos
Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission, EFCC, on January 19, 2024, on two-count charges bordering on cybercrime.
One of the counts reads: “That you, Ohaguim Ifeayin
Emmanuel, sometime in October, 2023, in
Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, with intent to gain
advantage for yourself, fraudulently impersonated one "Benjamin
Valdez" by holding yourself out as such on your Google Account and you
thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 22(2) (b)
of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) Act, 2015.”
He pleaded “guilty” to the
charges when they were read to him. Following his guilty plea, prosecution counsel, A.S. Wara, called on
Usman Ahmed, an operative of the EFCC, to
review the facts of the case .
Usman told the court that the defendant was arrested sometime
in October, 2023, following credible
intelligence received by the Commission
on the activities of some internet fraudsters operating in Fine County Estate, Orchid Road, Lekki, Lagos State. According to him, an iPhone 13 Pro, iPhone
XR, iPhone X and Mercedez Benz C300 were recovered from him at the point of arrest.
"Upon his arrest, he was duly processed and the
defendant volunteered his statements.
Investigations were conducted and forensic evidence were printed out
from his phone. In his statement, he
confessed he was into dating scam. Wara
further told the court that the defendant confessed to have benefited 950 USD
and N3.2m from his involvement in the criminal activity.
Wara ,therefore, sought to tender, in evidence, the
defendant’s extrajudicial statements, some items recovered from him: iPhone 13
Pro, iPhone XR, iPhone X and forensic investigation documents print out.
They were all admitted as exhibits by the court.
Justice Dipeolu, consequently, convicted and sentenced him to
one year imprisonment, with an option of fine of N200,000( Two Hundred Thousand
Naira).
The Judge also ordered that the mobile phones and Mercedes Benz C300 recovered from him be
forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria.
