11th February, 2021
A corps member, Sam Abiola, serving in Kogi has been convicted for romance scam by Justice Adenike Akinpelu of the Kwara State High Court.
Also convicted was an 18 year-old, Adebiyi Sodiq, who faced a four count charge.
Both were arraigned on separate charges over offences bordering on attempted cheating and love scam by the Ilorin Zonal Office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
The charge against Abiola reads:“That you, Sam Abiola (Missie Bonie), sometime between July 2019 and September 2019, in Ilorin, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did cheat by impersonation when you pretended to be one Missie Bonie, a white female with Gmail account, [email protected], and fraudulently deceived one Rick to send $550 to you through gift card after you made him believe you were in love with him, thereby committing an offence contrary to Section 321 of the Penal Code and punishable under Section 324 of the same Penal Code”.
For Sodiq, count three of the charge reads: “That you, Adebiyi Sodiq (alias: Maria Monica), sometime in August 2020, in Ilorin, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did cheat by impersonation via your email address; [email protected], to one Manny, by portraying yourself as a white female, named Maria, and induced him to send you his Cash App, a representation you knew to be false, thereby committing an offence contrary to Section 324 of the Penal Code and punishable under the same Section of 324 of the same law.”
The EFCC had last week reviewed the facts of the case after the defendants pleaded guilty to their separate charge, following which it urged the court to convict them based on their pleas
and the evidence placed before it. But, the court adjourned till today for judgment.
Justice Akinpelu in her judgment today, sentenced Abiola to six months imprisonment with an option of fine of N100, 000 (One Hundred Thousand Naira)
In a similar fashion, the judge sentenced Sodiq to six months imprisonment on each of counts 1,2,3 and 4 with N100,000 (One Hundred Thousand Naira) as option of fine on each of the counts.
The Judge ordered that the convicts’ phones and laptops used as instruments to perpetrate the crime be forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria.