By Mujidat Oyewole
A Kwara High Court, sitting in Ilorin on Thursday, has convicted a serving corps member in Kogi, Sam Abiola, over offences bordering on attempted cheating and love scam.
Convicted along with Abiola was one Sodiq Adebiyi.
The Ilorin Zonal Office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had on Feb. 1 arraigned the convicts, Abiola, 26 and Adebiyi, 18, on separate charges.
While one-count charge was preferred against Abiola, Adebiyi was prosecuted on a four-count charge, which the EFCC said was contrary to 321 of the Penal Code and punishable under Section 324 of the same law.
They both pleaded guilty to the charges.
The charge against them reads that you, Sam Abiola, sometime between July and September 2019 cheated by impersonation when you pretended to be one Missie Bonie, a white female with Gmail account missiebo271@gmail.com,
“Fraudulently you deceived one Rick to send 550 dollars to you, through gift card, after you made him to believe you were in love with him,” the charge read.
For Adebiyi, Count Three of the charge reads: That you, Adebiyi Sodiq (alias: Maria Monica), sometime in August 2020, cheated by impersonation via your email address terrellwhite856@gmail.com.
He was accused of falsely presenting himself as Maria, a white female, to one Manny and induced him to send you his Cash App, a representation you knew to be false.
The EFCC had reviewed the facts of the case after the defendants pleaded guilty to their separate charges.
The presiding judge, Adenike Akinpelu, sentenced Abiola to six months imprisonment with an option of fine of N100,000.
Akinpelu sentenced Adebiyi to six months imprisonment on each of the four counts, with N100,000 as option of fine, on each of the counts.
The judge ordered that the convict’s phones and laptop, used as instruments to perpetrate the crime, be forfeited to the Federal Government.
(NAN)
