Justice A.A Isiaka of the Kaduna State High Court, Kaduna has convicted and sentenced three persons to various jail terms for internet-related fraud.
The convicts are, Ogochukwu Mitchel Emmanuel Ijeh, Mohammed Kabir Bello and Sunday Simon (a.k.a Ryan Eggold).
They were jailed after pleading guilty to one-count separate charges upon their arraignment by the Kaduna State Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
The charge against ijeh reads: “that you, Ogochukwu Mitchel Emmanuel Ijeh ( a.k.a Dave Brandon) Male, sometime in July, 2023 in Kaduna within the jurisdiction of this Honourable court falsely presented yourself as Dave Brandon a Medical Doctor working at the United Nations Military Base on Facebook ( an online social media application) to one Andrea Kadur and in such assumed character claimed to be in a romantic relationship with her and you thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 142(2) of the Kaduna State Law.”
The charge against Bello reads: “that you Mohammed Kabir Bello, Male, sometime in December 2023 within the jurisdiction of this Honourable court fraudulently induced one Rashida Salman to deliver to you goods worth the sum of N50, 000 (Fifty Thousand Naira) only by sending her a fake bank transaction debit alert, and thereby committed an offence of cheating, an offence contrary to Section 306 (a) of the Kaduna State Penal Code Law, 2017 and punishable under Section 307 of the same Law.”
The charge against Simon reads: “that you Sunday Simon (a.k.a Ryan Eggold), Male, sometime in April 2023 in Kaduna, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, impersonated one Ryan Eggold (an American actor) on Facebook (an online social media application) and in such assumed character cheated Garri Kalish a citizen of United States of America of the sum of $800(Eight Hundred United States dollars) when you claimed to be in a romantic relationship with her and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 308 of the Kaduna State Penal Code Law, 2017 and punishable under Section 309 of the same Law.”
All the convicts pleaded “guilty” to their charges when they were read to them.
Based on their pleas, prosecution counsel, K.S Ogunlade prayed the court to convict and sentence them accordingly.
Thereafter, Justice Isiaka convicted and sentenced Ijeh, Simon and Bello to two years imprisonment each respectively. While Ijeh and Simon were given an option of a fine of N150,000( One Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira only), Bello was given an option of fine of N200, 000( Two Hundred Thousand Naira only).
The convicts bagged their imprisonment for various internet-related offences ranging from impersonation, possession of scam documents and paying for goods with a fake credit alert.
