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 honourable
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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