Court jails one in Benue for N7m fraud

Glory Ebomah

Justice A.R Mohammed of the Federal High Court sitting in Makurdi, Benue State, has convicted and sentenced James Ebute Adejoh to one-year imprisonment for Point of Sale, POS, fraud to the tune of N7,118,000.00 (Seven Million One Hundred and Eighteen Thousand Naira).

He was jailed after pleading guilty to one count preferred against him by the Makurdi Zonal Command of the EFCC.

The charge reads: “That you, James Ebute Adejoh ‘M’ sometime in 2021 in Makurdi, Benue State Nigeria within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, with intent to defraud knowingly sent a message to Accelerex Network limited that materially misrepresented the fact that a transaction of N7,118,000.00 (Seven Million One Hundred and Eighteen Thousand Naira Only) failed which the Bank replied upon and suffered a loss by making a chargeback to you, and thereby committed an offence, contrary to and punishable under Section 14(2) of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention Etc) Act, 2015″.

He pleaded “guilty” to the charge when it was read to him.

In view of his plea, prosecution counsel, M. Yusuf, reviewed the facts of the case before the court and prayed that the defendant be convicted and sentenced accordingly. 

In his judgment, Justice Muhammed convicted and sentenced Adejoh to one-year imprisonment, with an option of a fine of N500,000.00 (Five Hundred Thousand Naira).

Also, a Toyota Corolla 2014 model car, valued at N4,650,000,000, with iPhone 12 pro-max valued at N650,000, recovered from the convict, during the investigation, was forfeited to be sold by the EFCC and the proceeds restituted to the victim. The two bank accounts traceable to the convict were also frozen by the court.

The convict started his journey to the Correctional Centre when he was arrested by operatives of the Makurdi Zonal Command of the EFCC, based on a Point of Sales, POS, fraudulent dealings to the tune of N7,118,000.00.