Justice Adebayo Yusuf of the Kwara State High Court in Ilorin has sentenced a 24-year-old fashion designer, Muhammed Ayub and two others to six years imprisonment for offenses bordering on internet fraud and possession of fraudulent funds.
The two others are Odelade Samuel and Olowokere Jamiu
The Ilorin Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Wednesday, March 1, 2023, arraigned the trio on separate charges, to which they pleaded guilty.
Count one of the charges against Odelade reads: “That you, Odelade Samuel sometime between January 2021 and December 2022 in Ilorin, Kwara State within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court knowingly had under your control the gross sum of 3,513,549 paid into your Union Bank Account no 0123132913 which is reasonably suspected to be unlawfully obtained and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 319(A) of the penal code law and punishable under the same Section.”
Upon the guilty pleas by the defendants, Sesan Ola and Rashidat Alao who prosecuted the cases on behalf of the Commission reviewed the facts of the cases through witnesses who are operatives of the EFCC.
In his judgment, Justice Yusuf said the prosecution had established the essential ingredients of the cases to warrant the conviction of the defendants.
The Judge sentenced Ayub to six months imprisonment with an option of N50,000 and ordered that one iPhone 7, one apple iPhone 12 and the sum of $700 which the convict raised as restitution be forfeited to the Federal Government. The court also ordered the convict to bring the sum of $250 as restitution.
Similarly, Odelade bagged six months imprisonment on each of the two counts with the option of N100,000. The judge ordered that one iPhone 12 Pro Max, an HP laptop and a Lexus Car and the sum of N780,000 which he raised as restitution be forfeited to the Federal Government.
In the same vein, Justice Yusuf sentenced Olowokere to six months imprisonment with an option of N50,000 on each count. The court ordered the forfeiture of the convict’s iPhone 11 and the sum of $1350 to the Federal Government.
