In a significant crackdown on internet fraud, 43 suspects have been sentenced to imprisonment in Awka, Anambra State, and Abakaliki, Ebonyi State. They pleaded guilty to various charges related to their involvement in online criminal activities.
The suspects were presented before Justice Evelyn Anyadike of the Federal High Court in Awka by the Enugu Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Their arrests stemmed from credible intelligence linking them to impersonating foreign nationals and defrauding unsuspecting victims through various social media platforms.
Each suspect faced one-count charges, which included personation, possession of fraudulent documents, and obtaining money by false pretenses. During the proceedings, EFCC counsel Michael Ikechukwu Ani urged the court to convict the defendants based on their guilty pleas.
Defense attorneys, including Ifeanyi Michael Odoh and James Nwatarali, requested leniency, citing that many of the convicts were first-time offenders who had shown remorse.
Justice Anyadike ultimately sentenced each convict to eight months in prison, with an option to pay a fine of N100,000. However, four individuals received two months of community service, supervised by the Deputy Court Registrar. The court also ordered the auctioning of items seized from the convicts, including mobile phones and laptops, with proceeds going to the Federal Government.
The convicts, among them Momoh Victor Abdulkareem, Paul Emmanuel, and Ikechukwu Ezra, engaged in fraudulent activities by impersonating individuals such as Shirley Fang from the UK and Chen Dong from China to gain financial advantages.
This ruling marks a critical step in combating cybercrime and protecting unsuspecting citizens from online scams.
