At least five internet fraudsters were convicted by Justice N.U. Sadiq of the Kaduna State High Court sitting in Kaduna.
The convicts were dragged before the court by the Kaduna Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for offences bordering on internet fraud and obstruction.
The fraudsters are Miracle Osag (a.k.a Cynthiaray), Joshua Omotayo (a.k.a Christopher Wittland), Victory James (a.k.a Michael Lan Rosales), Yunus Abdulwasiu (a.k.a Gloria Mathew) and Anita Yusuf.
NIGERIACRIME learnt that they were apprehended at different locations in Kaduna based on intelligence indicating that they defrauded unsuspecting victims of their hard-earned money.
The charges against them read, “That you, Miracle Osag (a.k.a Cynthiaray), sometime in July 2023 in Kaduna within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court did commit an offence to wit; cheating by impersonation wherein you falsely presented yourself as one Cynthiaray on Instagram, an online social media platform and in such assumed identity, cheated one John Morgan the total sum of $120 Dollars (One Hundred and Twenty United States Dollars) and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 308 of the Kaduna State Penal Code Law, 2017 and punishable under Section 309 of the same Law.
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“That you, Yunus Abdulwasiu (a.k.a Gloria Mathew), between January and April 2023 at Kaduna within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, obtained the total sum of $150 US dollars (One Hundred and Fifty US Dollars) from one Andrea Werner when you presented yourself as Gloria Mathew a white woman from Portland Oregon via Facebook (a social media application) and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 308 of the Kaduna State Penal Code Law of 2017 and punishable under Section 309 of the same Law”.
The defendants pleaded guilty to the charges.
Justice Sadiq convicted and sentenced James, Osag, and Omotayo to 2 years imprisonment or an option of N150,000.00 (One Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira) fine, while Abdulwasiu was sentenced to one-year imprisonment without the option of fine. Anita Yusuf was fined N20,000.
The defendants are to forfeit all the devices used in committing the offence to the Federal Government of Nigeria.