A Federal High Court in Abeokuta, Ogun State, presided over by Justice Mohammed Abubakar on Thursday, April 11, 2019 convicted and sentenced two internet fraudsters, Gbenga Oduwole and Samson Ogunnowo, to five months and four months in prison, respectively.
The convicts had pleaded guilty to separate one-count charges preferred against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ibadan zonal office, which were products of the plea bargain proposed by their lawyers and agreed to by the Commission.
The different charges border on fraud and impersonation.
The amended charge against Ogunnowo reads: “That you, Samson Ogunnowo (aka Joyce; Larry), sometime in 2019, at Ago Iwoye within the Abeokuta jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, fraudulently impersonated one Larry, a white Male American Citizen via your email: [email protected] sent through a computer system and network to one Brenda Hardly in order to facilitate your obtaining the sum of USD$200 (Two Hundred United States of America Dollars) only and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 22(3) (b) and punishable under Section 22(4) of the Cyber Crimes (Prohibition, Prevention etc) Act, 2015.”
The one against Oduwole reads: “That you, Gbenga Oduwole on or about the 15th of November, 2018 at Ago Iwoye within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, sent pornographic data through your e-mail address which you registered as [email protected] and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 24(1a) ) of the Cyber Crimes (Prohibition, Prevention etc) Act, 2015 and punishable under Section 24(1) b of the same Act.”
The EFCC counsel in the respective cases, Shamsudden Bashir and Mabur Mabas, urged the court to accept the plea bargain agreement and convict the defendants, accordingly.
Justice Abubakar consequently convicted and sentenced Oduwole to five months in prison with effect from the date of his arrest, while Ogunnowo bagged four months in prison, also with effect from the date of his arrest.
Again, based on the plea bargain agreement, Oduwole has already refunded the sum of $25 which is to be given to the victim who is based in the United States.
Samson has also restituted the sum of $200 to his victim. He was also ordered to forfeit his iPhone7 to the Federal Government, being part of the benefit he derived from his fraudulent act.
