Court Jails Internet Fraudster Over N16m Fraud

Justice Olubunmi Abike-Fadipe of the Lagos State Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja has convicted and sentenced an internet fraudster, Anthony Obi to one-year imprisonment for N16 million fraud.

Justice Abike-Fadipe handed down the verdict after Obi pleaded guilty to an amended one-count charge of fraud brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)

The anti-graft agency had accused the convict of receiving fraudulently obtained money totalling the sum of N16,700,000.
The offence, according to the prosecutor, is punishable under Section 331 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2011.
When the case was called the EFCC counsel, Godson Akaogu urged the court to allow the convict to take his plea again on the amended charge dated March 28, 2022.
The judge granted the application and when the charge was read to the convict by the court registrar, he pleaded guilty to the offence.
Following the development, the court directed Akaogu to review the facts of the case, after which he urged the court to convict the convict as charged.

The lawyer had told the judge that the convict was arrested on July 8, 2021, in the Ajah area of Lagos based on credible intelligence that he was into internet fraud.

Obi, in his allucutor, pleaded with the court for mercy promising not to go back to the fraudulent activities.

After listening to his plea the Judge sentenced him to one-year imprisonment with an option of an N1 million fine and 80 hours of community service.