The Federal High Court sitting in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State has sentenced an ex-convict, Ekemini Akininyene Effiong, to eight months imprisonment for criminal impersonation and obtaining by false pretence to the tune of $75.
Effiong was arraigned on Monday alongside two others, Henry Izuchukwu Nze and Nze Francis Chike, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
While Effiong and Chike were arraigned on two-count charges bordering on criminal impersonation and possession of fraudulent documents, Nze was arraigned on five-count charges bordering on criminal impersonation with intent to defraud.
The defendants pleaded “guilty” when the charges were read to them.
Following their pleas, counsel to the EFCC, S. R. Akinrinlade, informed the court that the prosecution had witnesses in court to review the facts of the cases.
However, the court adjourned for facts review, conviction, and sentencing to Tuesday for Effiong and Monday, June 6, 2022, for Chike and Nze.
The charge against Effiong read: “That you, Ekemini Akaninyene Effiong a.k.a Ashley Smith sometime in February 2022 in Nigeria within the jurisdiction of this honorable court with intent to obtain property and gain advantage for yourself, fraudulently presented yourself as Ashley Smith to one Blake Walters and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 22 (2) (2) (b) (i) of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention Etc) Act 2015 and punishable under Section 22 (2) (b) (iv) of the same Act”.
When the matter came up on Tuesday, Akinrinlade prayed the court to convict and sentence the defendant as charged.
Ruling, the presiding judge, Justice Agatha Okeke, convicted and sentenced Effiong to four months imprisonment on each of the two counts without an option of a fine.
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Justice Okeke ordered that the sentence should run concurrently.
According to a statement made available to The Star by the EFCC spokesman, Wilson Uwujaren, Effiong had previously been convicted and sentenced to six months imprisonment by a Federal High Court in Port Harcourt, Rivers State on December 31, 2021.
He was convicted by Justice Adamu Mohammed for impersonation, phishing and hacking of e-mail accounts.
Effiong’s new journey to the correctional centre started when he was arrested by the EFCC operatives on February 9, 2022.
According to Uwujaren, investigations revealed that the convict was impersonating female Americans on social media platforms like Hangout and Instagram to defraud his victims.
“He variously posed as Ashley Smith on Hangout and Ashley Adams on Instagram and used his profile to initiate chats with one Edward Pendlety and succeeded in defrauding him $75 (Seventy Five United State Dollars) in three places,” the EFCC spokesperson stated.
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