Court jails three Internet fraudsters in Kaduna

Glory Ebomah

Justices A.A Bello and A. A Isiaka of the Kaduna state High Court, sitting in Kaduna, has convicted and sentenced the trio of Abubakar Isma’ila Buba, Solomon Olobatoke and Emmanuel Thomas to different jail terms.

They were jailed on Tuesday, December 5, 2023, after pleading guilty to one-count separate charge bordering on impersonation and obtaining by pretences, upon their arraignment by the Kaduna Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.

Buba’s charge reads: That you, Abubakar Isma’ila Buba”(a.k.a Jane Deity), sometime in October 2023 in Kaduna within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, with intent to defraud and attempt to cheat when you had in your possession fraudulent documents containing false pretence wherein you represented yourself as one Jane Deity on a (Google Chat), which pretence you knew to be false and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 57 of the Kaduna State Penal Code Law, 2017”.

“That you Solomon Olobatoke (a.k.a Yoshiki Hayashi) on or about the 13th of November, 2023 at Barnawa axis of Kaduna State, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, falsely presented yourself to members of the public and in such assumed character, impersonated one Yoshiki Hayashi via your Gmail account yoshikihayashi510@gmail.com and you thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 142(1) of the Kaduna State Penal Code Law, 2017.”

Head, Media and Publicity, EFCC, Dele Oyewale, said the fraudsters all pleaded guilty to their charges when they were read to them, prompting prosecution counsel, E.K Garba to ask the court to convict and sentence them accordingly.

Justice Bello convicted and sentenced Olobatoke to two years imprisonment or to pay a fine of N150,000.00 (One Hundred Fifty Thousand Naira). He also forfeited an iPhone 11 Promax, which was the tool of the crime to the Federal Government. Buba bagged two years imprisonment with a fine option of N100,000.00 (One Hundred Thousand Naira) and forfeited his Samsung Galaxy A23, being the tool of the crime to the federal government. Justice Isiaka, on the other hand, convicted and sentenced Thomas to a fine of N150,000.00 (One Hundred Fifty Thousand Naira) for impersonation and obtaining by false pretence.

The convicts started their journey to the Correctional Centre when they were arrested in the Malali and Barnawa areas of Kaduna.  Investigations showed that they were involved in internet-related crimes.

They impersonated foreigners and defrauded their victims in the process