Justice O. Tokode of the Federal High Court sitting in Benin city, Edo State on Monday December 5, 2016 convicted and sentenced one Fred Okeke to two years imprisonment. Okeke was arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on March 24, 2016 on a three- count charge bordering on internet fraud, false representation and possession of fraudulent documents.
Okeke pleaded guilty to the three counts charge and was consequently convicted and sentenced to two years imprisonment on each of the counts. The sentences are to run concurrently.
The presiding judge also ordered that the laptop recovered from the convict be forfeited to the federal government. Okeke’s journey to prison began when he was arrested by operatives of the EFCC in August 2015 following intelligence report linking him to a syndicate of internet fraudsters.
Upon his arrest, incriminating documents and a laptop were recovered from him, where he was found to be using false identity in attempt to extort money from unsuspecting victims.
One of the charge reads, “That you Okeke Fred sometime in 2015 in Benin city, Edo State within the jurisdiction of this honorable court had in your possession documents containing a false representation to wit: fraudulent mails found in your laptop, which you knew to be false and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 6 of the Advanced Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act and punishable under Section 1{3} of the said Act”.
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