Court jails graduate for dating scam in Lagos

A Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos State, has convicted and sentenced one Ohaguim Ifeayin Emmanuel to one year imprisonment for a dating scam.

Emmanuel, a graduate of Computer Science from Chukwuemeka Odumegwu University, Uli,  Anambra State, was arraigned by the Lagos Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), on January 19, 2024, on two-count charges bordering on cybercrime.

One of the counts read: “That you, Ohaguim Ifeayin Emmanuel,  sometime in October, 2023, in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, with intent to gain advantage for yourself, fraudulently impersonated one “Benjamin Valdez” by holding yourself out as such on your Google Account and you thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 22(2) (b) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) Act, 2015.”

The graduate, however, pleaded “guilty” to the charges when they were read to him.

Following his guilty plea, the prosecution counsel, A.S. Wara, called on an operative of the EFCC, Usman Ahmed, to review the facts of the case.

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Usman told the court that the defendant was arrested in October 2023, following credible intelligence received by the anti-graft agency on the activities of some internet fraudsters operating in Fine County Estate, Orchid Road in Lekki, Lagos State.

The EFCC officer said an iPhone 13 Pro, iPhone XR, iPhone X, and Mercedez Benz C300 were recovered from Emmanuel at the point of his arrest.

He added: “Upon his arrest, he was duly processed and the defendant volunteered his statements. Investigations were conducted and forensic evidence were printed out from his phone.

In his statement, he confessed he was into dating scam.”

Wara further told the court that the defendant confessed to have benefited $950 and N3.2 million from his involvement in internet fraud.

The EFCC operative tendered, in evidence, the defendant’s extrajudicial statements, some items recovered from him – iPhone 13 Pro, iPhone XR, and iPhone X – and forensic investigation documents printout.

They were all admitted as exhibits by the court.

The presiding judge, Justice Deinde Dipeolu, therefore, convicted and sentenced Emmanuel to one year imprisonment with a fine option of N200,000.

The judge also ordered that the mobile phones and Mercedes Benz C300 recovered from the university graduate be forfeited to the federal government.

The Star