Two young men who used the internet to scam people of their earnings were on Wednesday sentenced to two years in prison each by a Kaduna State High Court after their arraignment by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
According to a statement by the anti-graft commission on Thursday, April 30, the two fraudsters were each arraigned on separate one-count charge bordering on online fraud and for possession of fraudulent documents.
Idahosa and Israel were said to have been arrested by a team of operatives attached to the Intelligence and Special Operations Section (ISOS) following intelligence report indicating their involvement in cyber crime.
According to the statement, the charge against Bobby reads: “That you, Idahosa Bobby, sometime between January to March 2020, in Kaduna, within the Kaduna Judicial Division of this court, did attempt to cheat by impersonating one Waseelah6 using her Instagram account and in such assumed character, sent scam mails to unsuspecting citizens and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 57 of the Penal Code Law of Kaduna State 2017 and punishable under section 309 of the same Law.”
The charge against Israel reads: “That you, Israel Aidamebor, sometime in 2019 at Kaduna within the jurisdiction of this court of Kaduna State, did fraudulently induce one Mr Eyup, a Turkish national to disclose his full personal and security information which he would not have done but for your deceit by impersonating one William Illumie, an Illuminati agent via WhatsApp, a social media account and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under section 142(1) of the Kaduna State Penal Code Law No.5 of 2017.”
The two of the pleaded guilty in the court and upon their plea, counsel for the EFCC, E.K. Garba and M. Lawal, reviewed the fact of the cases.
Having found them guilty, Justice Tukur sentenced Bobby to two years in prison with an option of N100,000 fine and Israel to two years in prison with an option of N200,000 fine.