Two Internet fraudsters jailed in Port Harcourt

Glory Ebomah

Justice E. A. Obile of the Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, on Thursday, June 15th, 2023, convicted and sentenced one Harrison Patrick Egileoniso (aka. Nandi Dlamini) to three years in the Correctional Service after pleading “guilty” to three counts bordering on obtaining by false pretences preferred against him by the Port Harcourt Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.

One of the counts read: “That you, Harrison Patrick Egileoniso (aka. Nandi Dlamini) between August 2020 to January 2021 at Choba in Port Harcourt, Rivers State within the Jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, with intent to defraud obtained the sum Two Thousand Philippine Pesos (2000) phd via your Palmpay account, under the pretext that the said sum is investment with a brokerage platform (Xtreme Prime), a pretence you knew to be false and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section (1) (1) (a) of Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006 and punishable under section 1 (3) of the same Act”.

In view of his plea of ‘‘guilty’’, prosecution counsel, M.T. Iko prayed to the court to convict and sentence the defendant accordingly.

Counsel to the defendant, Collins Philip did not oppose the prayer of the prosecution but asked the Court to temper justice with mercy.

Justice Obile convicted and sentenced Harrison to one year on count one with an option of a fine of One Hundred Thousand Naira (N100, 000.00) and two years on count two with the option of a fine of Two Hundred Thousand Naira (N200, 000.00).

Justice Obile also convicted and sentenced one Samuel Promise (aka. Jonica Keating, Almahle Maddison) to two years in the Correctional Service with the option of a fine of two Hundred Thousand Naira (N200, 000.00), on one count bordering on Cybercrime.

The charge read: “That you Samuel Promise (aka Jonica Keating, Amahle Maddison) between March 2022 to May 2022 at Choba in Port Harcourt, Rivers State within the Jurisdiction of this Honourable Court fraudulently represented yourself as Jonica Keating and Amahle Maddison on Facebook/Instagram to Saores Jacques, a Brazilian, and obtained the total sum of Two Thousand, Six Hundred and Seventeen US Dollar, Fifty Cents ($2, 617.50) from Saores Jacque, Krysnamayi, Muhammed and Venkat Amara and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 22 (2) (b) (ii) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention Etc.) Act, 2015 and punishable under section 22 (2) (b) (iv) of the same Act”.

According to Head, Media and Publicity, EFCC, Wilson Uwujaren, the defendant pleaded “guilty” to the charge.

In view of his plea, prosecution counsel M.T. Iko prayed the court to convict and sentence the defendant accordingly.

The court ordered that the Oppo A96, V207 and black Samsung AO2S smart Phone which were recovered from the convicts be forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria.

The duo started their journey to the Correctional Service when they were arrested by the operatives of the Commission during a sting operation sometime in April 2022 at Ada George and Choba axes of Port Harcourt, Rivers State for involvement in internet fraud activities.

Investigation revealed that the convicts are into investment and Crypto scams and operated different social media accounts which they used in defrauding their victims