Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court, Ibadan, on Wednesday, sentenced three Internet fraudsters to jail.
The judge had found them guilty of the criminal charges preferred against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
The convicts, Jamal Ajao, Joel Olawale and Tobi Kehinde, were re-arraigned after approaching the commission for plea bargain.
Ajao and Olawale were jointly brought before the court on an amended charge of fraudulent impersonation contrary to Section 27(1) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention etc.) Act, 2015, and punishable under Section 22(4) of the same Act.
They pleaded guilty to the charge.
The counsel for the EFCC, Oyelakin Oyediran, thereafter prayed the court to sentence them according to the terms of the plea bargain agreement.
The judge sentenced to six months’ imprisonment each.
Kehinde, who was tried separately, was originally arraigned on June 28 on three counts bordering on possession of fraudulent documents, contrary to sections 6 and 8(b) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act, 2006.
He later approached the commission for plea bargain.
Based on the plea bargain agreement, he was re-arraigned on October 7, 2019, on an amended charge of fraudulent impersonation, which he pleaded guilty to.
The presiding judge sentenced him to one year in prison on Wednesday.
Justice Abdulmalik ordered Kehinde to forfeit to the Federal Government his iPhone 6s Plus, a Nokia phone, an HP Laptop, a ZTE WiFi modem and an Itel phone.
Apart from their jail terms, the court also ordered Ajao and Joel to pay their victim, through the Federal Government, the sum of $800 in restitution.
They are also to forfeit all items recovered from them during the investigation.
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