A Kwara State high court sitting in Ilorin has ordered that three Internet fraudsters standing trial before it be kept in the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ilorin zonal office for 21 days.
The three accused persons, Olopade Oladimeji, Atanda Benjamin and Atoyebi Samson, on Friday pleaded guilty to the fraud charge levelled against them by the EFCC.
They were facing separate charges bordering on Internet fraud before Justice Adenike Akinpelu.
The trio allegedly paraded themselves as females with the intention to obtain money under false pretences from foreigners.
The offence, the prosecution alleged, was contrary to sections 95 and 321 of the Penal Code and punishable under Section 324 of the same law.
The charge against Atanda read, “That you, Atanda Femi Benjamin, ( alias; Federer Abril), sometime in December 2018, at ilorin, within the judicial division of the Kwara State High Court, did attempt to cheat by impersonation, when you pretended to be one Federer Abril, a white Caucasian, vide a Gmail account and in that guise communicated with one Linda Richardson, a representation you knew to be false, thereby committing an offence contrary to Section 95 of the Penal Code and punishable Section 324 of the same Penal Code.”
The charge against Atoyebi read, “That you, Atoyebi Samson (William Grover), sometime in July 2019, in Ilorin, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, did cheat by impersonation when you pretended to be one William Grover a white female with a Gmail account and fraudulently deceived Charles Wood an American citizen, to send $500.00 worth of gift card after you made him believe you were a girl 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.”
They pleaded guilty to the charges.
The prosecuting counsel, Sesan Ola and Andrew Akoja, however urged the court to convict the defendants having pleaded guilty to the charges.
Justice Akinpelu fixed March 17, 2020 for ruling in the case and ordered the accused persons to be remanded in the EFCC custody.