Justice Akintayo Aluko of the Federal High Court in Lagos has convicted and sentenced a WhatsApp hacker, Stephen Ojo, to 32 months imprisonment for defrauding his victim of N700,000.
Justice Aluko jailed Ojo after he pleaded guilty to a four-count charge of conspiracy, identity theft, obtaining the sum of N700,000 by false pretence and money laundering.
The convict was arraigned before the court by the operatives of Zone 2 Command of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), Onikan, Lagos, sometime in December 2023.
The convict, according to the police, on September 12, 2024, at Ajao Estate, Lagos, conspired with others now at large and engaged in identity theft by hacking the WhatsApp of one Mrs. Laraba Shuaibu and impersonating her.
The prosecutor, Zebedee Arekhandia, had told the court that the convict and others, now at large, used the hacked WhatsApp to fraudulently obtain the sum of N700,000 from one Mrs. Osasu Tina Eriamiatoe.
Arekhandia further informed the court that the money was paid into the defendant’s Union Bank account and PalmPay account number 9550723433, which belongs to Michael Ijua.
He told the court that the offences committed by the convict are contrary to sections 8(a) and 1(3)(a) and punishable under Section 1(3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006.
He also told the court that the offences contravened sections Section 24 (2)(a)(b) (i)(ii) and (iii) of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act, 2015. And Section 15 (1) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2022 as amended in 2012.
Earlier, he pleaded not guilty to the charges earlier but changed his plea to guilty on May 7, 2024.
Consequently, Justice Aluko adjourned the matter to review the facts and sentence.
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