Five internet fraudsters have been convicted and sentenced to varying prison terms by the Federal High Court and the Kwara State High Court sitting in Ilorin, following their prosecution by the Ilorin Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The convicted fraudsters are Ayinla Abdulmajid, Yusuf Onimisi, Muhammed Eneye, Abdulbasit Abdulmumeen, and Victor Anibe.
Justice Abimbola Awogboro of the Federal High Court and Justice Sulaiman Akanbi and Haleema Saleeman of the Kwara State High Court delivered the judgments in separate cases.
The EFCC said Abdulmajid was sentenced to nine months imprisonment without an option of fine for impersonating one Michael Cavezza to defraud Kirsty Reid, of $1,003 via Google Hangouts.
Justice Awogboro also ordered the forfeiture of $702, an iPhone 14 Pro Max, a Redmi phone, and an HP laptop recovered from Abdulmajid to the federal government.
Onimisi was sentenced to three months imprisonment without an option of fine.
He was ordered to forfeit $300 and a Samsung S31 phone, proceeds of his fraudulent activities.
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Eneye received a sentence of 400 hours of community service without an option of a fine, and his HP laptop was forfeited to the federal government.
In a separate proceeding at the Kwara State High Court, Justice Akanbi sentenced Abdulmumeen to two years imprisonment with an option of a N400,000 fine.
The convict was also directed to sweep the premises of the Kwara State High Court for two months under the supervision of a Nigerian Correctional Service probation officer.
Additionally, $145 and an iPhone 11 recovered from him were forfeited to the federal government.
Justice Saleeman sentenced Anibe to two years imprisonment or an option of a N600,000 fine.
The court also ordered the forfeiture of N4 million restituted by Anibe, along with an iPhone 16 Pro Max and a Samsung phone.
All five convicts pleaded guilty to their respective charges and were sentenced after the EFCC’s counsel, Innocent Mbachie, Sesan Ola, and Mustapha Kaigama, reviewed the facts of the cases and tendered evidence, including extra-judicial statements and recovered items.
