Two Internet fraudsters Enaboakpe Robert and Omorovbiye Best Osemwegie, have been jailed for five years each, in separate trials.
Robert, alias Engineer Eric Cheng, was arraigned on one -count charge by the Benin Zonal Command of the EFCC for fraudulent impersonation.
The lone- count charge read: “That you Enaboakpe Robert (alias Engineer Eric Cheng) or about the 16th day of May, 2021 at No. 22 Police Station Road, Agenebode, Edo State, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, fraudulently impersonated one Engineer Eric Cheng, a white man, by sending the following Gmail addresses Robertbliss27@gmail.com rulemaxwell10@gmail.com and unitednationsyrial72@gmail.com and fraudulently represented yourself as a white man from California in United State of America, the representation you knew to be false and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 22(2) (b) (i) and (ii) of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act, 2015 and punishable under Section 22(2) (b)(iv) of the same Act”.
Upon arraignment, he pleaded guilty to the charge.
In view of his plea, prosecution counsel, Ibrahim Mohammed, prayed the court to convict and sentence the defendant accordingly.
Justice Justice C.A Obiozor convicted and sentenced the defendant to five years imprisonment with an option of fine of N 500,000 ( Five Hundred Thousand Naira only).
In addition, the judge ordered the defendant to forfeit his mobile phone to the Federal Government of Nigeria and undertake in writing to be of good behaviour henceforth.
In a similar development, Justice F.A. Olubanjo of the Federal High Court sitting in Asaba, Delta State convicted and sentenced Osemwegie to five years imprisonment for fraud.
The one- count charge read : “that you Omorovbiye Best Osemwegie sometime in November 2020 at Benin City, Edo State within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court with intent to defraud, sent electronic message which materially misrepresented your identity to Wang Jun, a Chinese woman upon which she relied and suffered financial loss in a sum of $3,000,00 and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 22(2) (b) (ii)of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act, 2015 and punishable under Section 22(2) (b)(iv) of the same Act.
In view of his plea, prosecution counsel, I.K Agwai prayed the court to convict and sentence the defendant accordingly.
Justice Olubanjo convicted and sentenced the defendant to five years imprisonment with an option of fine of N500,000 (Five Hundred Thousand Naira only).
The judge also ordered the convict to forfeit the balance of money in his bank account, one Mercedes Benz C300 2015 model and a mobile phone to the Federal Government of Nigeria. He is also to undertake in writing to be of good behavior henceforth.
The convicts’ journey to the Correctional Centre started when they were arrested by operatives of the Benin Zonal Command of the EFCC for impersonating foreigners to commit internet- related crimes. Robert impersonated an American while Osemwegie impersonated a Chinese.
Essentially, the Professor of Economics and a consultant to many world bodies has, by his pronouncements since winning the election, showed that he might not be at home with ostentatious lifestyle and heavily padded administration. First was his decision to have a quiet swearing in ceremony that would involve just a few people, unlike what used to happen in the past when it was usually an occasion for the government in power to show off as the political party that produced the governor. He had also said that immediately after the swearing in ceremony, he would drive straight to Okpoko in Ogbaru local government area, which is one of the worst slums in the country.
He had promised during his electioneering campaign that he would clean up the area and make it habitable. In fact, but for obedience to protocol matters, Soludo had earlier planned to have his swearing in ceremony at Okpoko to drive home the importance he attached to turning the area around.