Court jails fake US soldier for $5,000 fraud in Port Harcourt

Etim Ekpimah

The Port Harcourt Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has secured the conviction and imprisonment of a fake United States soldier, Chukwuema Samuel Andrew.

Andrew was arraigned on two counts bordering on advance fee fraud contrary to Section 1(1) (a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006 and punishable under Section 1(3) of the same Act.

Count one of the charges read: “That you, Chukwuema Samuel Andrew (a.k.a Mary Parlier) sometime in April 2021 in Port Harcourt, Rivers State within the jurisdiction of this honourable court with intent to defraud, did obtain the sum of $5,300 (Five Thousand Three Hundred Dollars) under the pretext of being Mary Parlier, a female soldier serving in Yemen as a computer operator, a pretext which to your knowledge was false and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 1(1) (a) of the Advance Fee and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006 and punishable under Section 1(3) of the same Act.”

He pleaded guilty when the charges were read to him, prompting prosecution counsel, B. O. Agala to pray the court to convict and sentence him accordingly, while defence counsel P. U. Ogbuehi prayed the judge to temper justice with mercy stating that his client was a first -time offender with no previous criminal records.

Justice Ajoku convicted and sentenced Andrew to 30 months imprisonment.  Besides his prison term, he forfeited his Redmi mobile phone and iPhone 12 Pro to the Federal government and was deposed to an affidavit of good behaviour before the court.

The convict’s journey to the Correctional Centre began when he was nabbed by EFCC operatives for internet fraud sometime in June 2023, at Golf Estate, Port Harcourt in an operation code-named “Eagle Sweep.” His profiling revealed that he became involved in different shades of cybercrime including dating and romance scams in 2021.

Head, Media and Publicity, EFCC, Dele Oyewale, said the $5,300 proceeds of crime he earned were sent to him as iTunes cards, steam cards and Bitcoins through his vendor who converted them to naira values via his Access Bank and United Bank for Africa accounts.

In another development, EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede has stated that individuals who obstruct the Commission or its authorized officers in the exercise of their duties run afoul of Section 38(a)(b) of the Commission’s Establishment Act. The same, he said, also applies to those who fail to comply with lawful enquiries or demands made by authorized officers of the Commission.

He disclosed this during a lecture organized by officers of the Advanced and Intelligence Intermediate Course of the Nigerian Navy on the “History, Roles and Organization of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC” at the Navy Intelligence School Ubima, Rivers State.

The EFCC Chairman, who was represented at the event by Chief Superintendent of EFCC, CSE Itoro Levi Azuogu, Head CTGI 2, Port Harcourt Zonal Command, stated that the commission had the constitutional power to seek and receive information from any person, authority or entity without inhibitions in the cause of its investigations. He, therefore, enjoined individuals and entities to be forthcoming with information required of them by the commission as refusal to do so constitutes a criminal offence.

To further educate the public on the responsibilities of the commission, Olukoyede listed the scope of EFCC’s mandate to include the combatting of “non-violent criminal and illicit activities, committed to earning illegitimate wealth, either by individuals or a group, organized in any manner that violates existing legislation governing the economic activities of the government, which includes any form of fraud,  money laundering, embezzlement, bribery, looting, all forms of malpractices, smuggling, bunkering, tax evasion, illegal oil bunkering, currency counterfeiting, intellectual property theft amongst others.”

The Deputy Commandant, Navy Intelligence School, G.O. Babatunde, in his closing remarks, thanked CSE Azuogu for the insightful lecture.