The Lagos Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Tuesday, May 31, 2022, secured the conviction and sentencing of two internet fraudsters, John Austin and Alebiosu Rasheed Salam, before Justice O.A. Okunuga of the Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos.

The convicts were separately arraigned on a one-count charge bordering on the use of fraudulent documents to engage in online dating scam, through which they defrauded their unsuspecting victims.

They both separately pleaded guilty to the one-count charge.

In the course of the separate proceedings, counsel for the EFCC, S.O. Daji, who gave reviews of the facts in each of the separate trials, told the Court that the defendants, upon their arrests at different times, were further interrogated by operatives of the EFCC during which they volunteered statements admitting to their involvement in internet fraud.

Daji further told the Court that two iPhones were recovered from Salam along with a Lexus 350 2010 model, while one iPhone, one Tecno phone and one HP laptop were recovered from Austin.

He tendered the statements in evidence along with the various items recovered from them.

They were all admitted in evidence as exhibits against the defendants, as there were no objections raised by the defence team.

Thereafter, Justice Okunuga found them guilty as charged.

 In convicting them, the Court took cognisance of the fact that they were both first-time offenders.

They were both sentenced to five hours daily community service for six months and the items recovered from them were also ordered to be forfeited to the Federal Government.

They are also to enter into an undertaking with the EFCC never to engage in any form of economic and financial crime again.

Media & Publicity

1 June, 2022