The Ilorin Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Wednesday, November 10, 2021 secured the conviction of 25-year-old Ayeni Peter Oluwatofunmi for impersonating a white America female, Daina Patrick, to swindle unsuspecting victims.
The offence is contrary to Section 321 of the Penal Code Law and punishable under Section 324 of the same law.
The defendant was prosecuted on one count, to which he pleaded guilty.
Upon the ‘guilty plea’ by the defendant, counsel to the EFCC, Rashidat Alao called a witness, who narrated how credible intelligence led to the arrest of the defendant. The witness, who is an operative of the Commission tendered several fraudulent messages printed from the device of the defendant, which the court admitted in evidence.
Alao thereafter urged the court to consider the plea entered by the defendant, his extra-judicial statements, the testimony of the sole prosecution witness and exhibits tendered to convict the defendant as charged.
Justice Mahmud Abdulgafar held that, “the court is satisfied that the prosecution has proved its case beyond reasonable doubt.”
The judge sentenced Ayeni to six months suspended prison term. The court also ordered the forfeiture of the sum of $200USD (Two Hundred Dollars) which the convict benefited from the unlawful activity, as well as the phone he used to perpetrate the crime to the Federal Government.