Justice E. Ekpe of the FCT High Court, Apo, on October 20, 2021 convicted and sentenced the duo of Ibrahim Ojonugwa (aka Maria Guadalpe) and Athnetus Ezeakunne (aka Angela Muller) to two months imprisonment each for attempting to commit cybercrime which runs contrary to Section 95 and punishable under Section 322 of the Penal Code Act Laws of the Federation (Abuja)1990.
They were convicted having pleaded guilty to the charges brought against them by the Abuja Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC. Justice Ekpe however gave them the option of N200, 000 fine each and ordered the forfeiture of their mobile phones to the Federal Government.
Investigations revealed that Ojonugwa, who posed as a woman from the Philippines, and Ezeakunne, who presented himself as a Belgian woman, were newly recruited members of a cybercrime syndicate that engaged in gift card, iTunes and Bitcoin fraud.
The duo used the Telegram messaging App to communicate with their victims.