Justice Mohammed Sani of the Federal High Court sitting in Ilorin, Kwara State, has sentenced an unemployed Internet fraudster, Olamilekan Olukayode, to two years’ imprisonment for cybercrime.
The court also ordered Olukayode to forfeit a 350 Mercedes Benz valued at N13m to the Federal Government.
The Ilorin Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission prosecuted the 26-year-old Ondo State indigene for offences bordering on cybercrime.
The Head of Media and Publicity of EFCC, Wilson Uwajuaren, in a statement, said the convict was among the 30 suspected Internet fraudsters arrested in Ado-Ekiti on April 26, 2022, during a sting operation following intelligence reports on the activities of fraudsters in the area.
“Investigation into the matter revealed that Olukayode, who currently has no defined job, specialised in Internet fraud and had benefited several millions of naira from his fraudulent activities, part of which he used to purchase a Mercedes Benz ML 350 in the sum of N13m,” the statement added.
Olukayode pleaded guilty to the charge.
Following his guilty plea, counsel for the EFCC, Sesan Ola, reviewed the facts of the case.
He also tendered the extra-judicial statements of the defendant, phones, HP laptop and the car recovered from him at the point of arrest, as well as fraudulent messages printed from his devices, which were admitted in evidence.
Justice Sani, in his judgement, said he found merit in the case of the prosecution and consequently convicted him.
The judge sentenced Olukayode to one-year imprisonment each on counts one and two with a fine option of N300,000 on each count.
The court also ordered the forfeiture of the iPhone 12, Infinix X65, HP laptop and Mercedes Benz recovered from the convict to the Federal Government.
