PHOTOS: Court Jails 10 Internet Fraudsters, Impersonator In Edo

Justice Efe Ikponmwonba of Edo State High Court in Benin City has convicted and sentenced 10 fraudsters and an impersonator to various jail terms.

This was disclosed in a statement posted on the official X handle of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Thursday.

According to the statement, the convicts were arraigned separately on one count of personation and unlawful possession of fraudulent documents by the Benin Zonal Command of the EFCC.

Upon arraignment, the defendants pleaded guilty to their respective charges, prompting prosecution counsels to pray to the court to convict them and sentence them accordingly.

The impersonator, Endurance Agbi, was reportedly arrested through a collaboration between the EFCC and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, sequel to a suspicious transaction report of $12,800 on his account.

He confessed that he was an internet fraudster and that he impersonated the identity of Dr. Odidi, a traditional medical practitioner, and through that, he defrauded his unsuspecting foreign victims.

Agbi was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment or a fine of N100,000.

The other convicts are Sylvester Ebhoaiye, Edafe Promise, Christian Skinn, Lucky Ariomoghwa, Pricewill Ogbebor, Irikefe Prosper, Ejiro Odiri, Richard Eyengho, Apoi Ufouma, and Enabor Odianosen.

The trio of Odianosen, Ogbebor, and Odiri bagged three years imprisonment or a fine of N500,000 each, while Ebhoaiye, Skinn, Ariomoghwa, Eyengho, and Ufouma were sentenced to three years imprisonment with the option of a N300,000 fine.

Edafe and Irikefe bagged three years of imprisonment or a fine of N200,000.

The judge ordered the forfeiture of two Toyota Venza, one Mercedes Benz GLK, one Lexus NX200, and a Honda Accord 2013 model mobile phones and balances in the convicts’ bank accounts, being proceeds of crime, to be forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria.

The court also ordered that the sum of $525.00 recovered in cash from Agbi during investigations be paid to the Federal Government of Nigeria’s account through the EFCC for onward delivery to the NFIU, and that the bank accounts of the convicts be permanently closed.