The Lagos Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has secured the conviction and sentencing of five individuals for money laundering and impersonation.
Justice A.A. Okeke of the Federal High Court in Abeokuta, Ogun State, gave the judgments sentencing the convicts comprising Justine Chikeleze Onyedikachukwu, David Udoka Okafor, Godwin Favour Udoh, Ifeanyi Franklin Ogobue, and Chinedu Mukolu Obed.
The five persons were accused of money laundering and impersonation under the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act 2022 and the Cyber Crimes (Prohibition and Prevention) Act 2022.
This was made known own by the anti-graft agency on its official Facebook page on Tuesday.
According to the post, all five persons pleaded guilty to the charges on July 12, 2024.
Prosecution counsel, Okongwu Ebuka and Ridwan Alabi urged the court to convict the defendants based on their guilty pleas.
Justice Okeke sentenced Onyedikachukwu to two months imprisonment for each count, with the sentences running concurrently while his iPhone 12 and Samsung laptop were forfeited to the Federal Government.
Favour received a three-month sentence for each of his charges, also to run concurrently, with his iPhone 12 Pro Max and iPhone 11 forfeited to the Federal Government.
Udoh for his part,was sentenced to one month imprisonment for each count, running concurrently, and his iPhone XS Max was forfeited.
Ogobue received two-month sentence for each count, running concurrently, with his iPhone 12 Pro Max forfeited.
Obed, who pleaded guilty to amended charges, was discharged on the money laundering count, but convicted on the impersonation charge, receiving a two-month sentence and forfeiting of his iPhone 12 Pro Max.
All the convicts were sentenced for internet-related offenses, highlighting the ongoing efforts of the EFCC to combat cyber crimes and money laundering in Nigeria.
