The Federal High Court in Ilorin, Kwara State has convicted and jailed five persons taken before it by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and arraigned for Internet fraud.
The convicts, charged before Justice Muhammed Sani, were identified as Ololade Olabisi from the Alimosho Local Government Area of Lagos State, Issa Shahajudeen, a native of Offa in the Offa Local Government Area of Kwara State; Segun Ajila from the Alimosho Local Government Area of Lagos State, Babatunde Saheed from Ilorin and Abdulmatin Olawale from the Akinyele Local Government Area of Oyo State.
Before their conviction, the defendants had pleaded guilty to the separate charges preferred against them by the EFCC.
Upon their pleas, the facts of the cases were reviewed and phones, laptops, and fraudulent messages printed from the defendants’ devices were tendered and admitted in evidence.
Justice Sani said the prosecution successfully established a prima facie case against the defendants and, therefore, convicted them.
The judge sentenced the defendants to various jail terms, ranging from six months to one year imprisonment with an option of a fine.
The judge also ordered that all items used as an instrumentality of the crime by the convicts, including phones and laptops and monies raised as restitution, be forfeited to the Federal Government.
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