A 20-year-old electrician, Mathew Yaba, has been jailed for nine months by the Federal High Court in Ilorin for cybercrime involving impersonation and fraud.
He was sentenced by Justice Abimbola Awogboro after the court found him guilty of pretending to be one Raleigh Jredd and keeping N7,384,750 in a Kuda bank account, which he could not explain.
“He retained control of the gross sum of N7,384,750.00, which was found to be proceeds of unlawful activity,” the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, explained in a statement on Wednesday.
Yaba was one of 11 people convicted by the EFCC’s Ilorin Zonal Directorate for cyber-related crimes. Others included music producers, traders, and students from different parts of the country.
“All of them were arraigned separately and pleaded guilty when the charges were read,” Oyewale said.
He added that the EFCC tendered evidence including their statements, phones, laptops, and cash they returned as part of what they got from the fraud.
The prosecutor, Aliyu Adebayo, also told the court that “the defendants admitted their crimes and returned some money during investigation.”
Justice Awogboro sentenced Yaba without giving him the option of a fine and ordered the final forfeiture of his iPhone 13 and N200,000 to the Federal Government.
Samuel Stephen Ayomide, from Kogi State, was sentenced to nine months in jail after the court found that he tricked someone named Faith Jackson into losing $922 through Bitcoin.
The EFCC said Ayomide used a Telegram account called CPN Goat to lie about creating fake credit bureau scores.
“He caused the victim to suffer financial loss by pretending to offer credit privacy number services,” Oyewale added.
Ayomide’s iPhone 16 and $535 were also taken by the government.
Other convicts and their punishments included:
Bamidele Favour Olajide, a music producer from Kogi, got six months in jail and forfeited his iPhone X, Samsung A05, and $50.
Isah Kadir was sentenced to 300 hours of community service and lost his Infinix Hot 10 to the government.
Samuel Peter Juwon got 12 months in jail and forfeited three phones, a laptop, and \$500.
Omolaiye Stephen Benefit got nine months in jail and lost N1 million and two phones.
Kayode Emmanuel Opeyemi got six months and forfeited his phone and N500,000.
Abdulrahim Lasisi was sentenced to 150 hours of community service and lost his Samsung S9.
Ugwuadu Ikechukwu Michael got 12 months in jail and forfeited N500,000 and a phone.
Moshood Abduljawad got six months in jail and forfeited $190 and his phone.
Abdulrasaq Jubril, a spare parts seller in Kwara, was sentenced by Justice Mahmud Abdulgafar to six months of suspended sentence and ordered to forfeit his iPhone 12 and $180. He was also told to pay back another $110.
Oyewale said, “These convictions show the Commission’s commitment to ending cybercrime.”
