Glory Ehomah
Justice P. M. Ayuba of the Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State has convicted and sentenced Nzebechi Precious Nnadi, to six months imprisonment for impersonation and obtaining by false pretence.
He was convicted in Port Harcourt on Tuesday, May 31, 2022, after pleading ‘guilty’ to a count of impersonation raised against him by the Port Harcourt Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
The count charge read: “That you, Nzebuchi Precious Nnadi (aka) Laura Martinez between December 2021 to February 2022 at Port Harcourt, Rivers State, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, fraudulently impersonated and presented yourself as a military man from Mexico and also an engineer from Germany and obtained steam cards worth Eight Hundred United States Dollars ($800 USD) from one Juan Pereira, a Venezuelan resident in the US and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 22 (2) (b) (ii) of the Cybercrimes (Prevention, Prohibition, 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 when it was read to him.
In view of his guilty plea, prosecution counsel, M. T. Iko prayed the court to convict and sentence him accordingly. Defence counsel, M. Achuonye, however, urged the court to temper justice with mercy stressing that, “the defendant is a first-time offender with no previous criminal records.”
Justice Ayuba convicted and sentenced Nnadi to six months imprisonment with an option of a fine of Twenty Thousand Naira (N20, 000.00) payable into the Consolidated Revenue Fund Account of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Nnadi’s road to the Correctional Centre opened when he was arrested with one spark 7 Techno phone which he employed in opening several Google and WhatsApp accounts used in chatting with unsuspecting victims. He used the same accounts in chatting and professing love to many of his victims including Mari and Juan Pereira, a Venezuelan resident in the United States of America.
He also falsely presented himself to them as Laura Martinez, a military man from Mexico and also an engineer from Germany and fraudulently obtained steam cards worth Eight Hundred United States Dollars ($800 USD) from them.