The Federal High Court in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, on Monday, sentenced a 21-year-old man, Adeleke Oluwaseyi, to six months imprisonment for internet fraud.

The convict, who pretended to be a U.S. citizen with the name, Patrick Bob, on the internet, was arrested on June 19 by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Oyo State Command.

Justice Joyce Abdulmalik sentenced Adeleke to six months imprisonment and ordered that the 150 dollars, phones, laptop with WiFi Router recovered from him be forfeited to the Federal Government through the EFCC.

Earlier, the Prosecutor, Mr S.M. Obiekute, told the court that the convict “used fake identity to take financial advantage of his victims.”

The defence counsel, Mr Adewale Ayoade, however, appealed leniency for the convict who pleaded guilty, that

“He is young; a youth affected by peer pressure and trend.

“And as the essence of punishment is to correct and deter, if he’s exposed to prison custody for too long, there’s a possibility that the essence of punishment might be forfeited,” he said.

The antigraft agency said that the offence contravened the provisions of Section 22(3)(a) of the Advance Fee Fraud.

 

NAN