Justice Darius Khobo of the Kaduna State High Court on October 13, 2022, convicted and sentenced four Internet fraudsters : Jeremiah Fakolade, Tisan Ashei (aka Ji Hoon),Victor Oluwa (aka Smith Nicholson), and Daniel Cyprian Chima(aka Hadiza Khuriam),to various jail terms for cybercrime and Impersonation.
They were convicted after pleading guilty to their respective one count charge.
While Fakolade bagged three months imprisonment with an option of fine of N100, 000.00, Ashei( aka Ji Hoon) was sentenced to six months imprisonment with the same option of fine. But the latter was ordered to forfeit one Apple iPhone 7 and the sum of N 500,000.00 (Five Hundred Thousand Naira) to the Federal Government of Nigeria.
Oluwa (aka Smith Nicholson), was sentenced to six months imprisonment or an option of fine of N150,000.00 (One Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira), and forfeits N100,000.00 recovered proceeds of crime, a Techno Spark 8 KG7h phone, and one Techno Camon 19 C16.
Chima (aka Hadiza Khuriam), bagged six months imprisonment or an option of fine of N150, 000.00. He is also to forfeit to the Federal Government of Nigeria the sum of $100.
The quartet were arrested in Kaduna following intelligence on their alleged involvement in internet-related fraud.
The charge against Fakolade reads, “that Miracle Festus sometime in July, 2022 in Kaduna within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court attempted to commit the offence of cheating by impersonation when he impersonated himself as an agent of Special Advocacy Weblog, a Bitcoin company and in that false identity attempted to cheat one M. Jahangir the sum of $250(Two Hundred and Fifty Dollars) and that you Jeremiah Fakolade abetted the said Miracle Festus in the commission of the said offence and you have thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 47 of the Kaduna State Penal Code Law 2017 and punishable under Section 309 of the same Law”.
Ashei was alleged to have “between January and August 2022 at Kaduna within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, cheated one Alena of the total sum of $3000.00(Three Thousand US Dollars) only when you pretended to be Ji Hoon; an Asian on several online social media applications, which you knew to be false and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 308 of the Kaduna State Penal Code Law of 2017 and punishable under Section 309 of the same Law”.
The one count charge against Victor Oluwa reads, “sometime between March to August, 2022 in Kaduna within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court did commit an offence to wit cheating by impersonation wherein you falsely represented yourself as Smith Nicholson (a military personnel from United States of America) and in such assumed identity induced one Quasia Conner from Texas to pay to you a total sum of $904(Nine Hundred and Four USD) through vanilla card and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 308 of the Kaduna State Penal Code Law, 2017 and punishable under Section 309 of the same Law”.
Chima was alleged to have, “sometime in September 2021 in Kaduna within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did commit an offence to wit; cheating by impersonation wherein you falsely represented yourself as Hadiza Khuriam (a white woman) and in such assumed identity induced one Jauangir Abasi from Pakistan to pay to you a total sum of $100(One Hundred USD) and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 308 of the Kaduna State Penal Code Law, 2017 and punishable under Section 309 of the same Law”.
Media & Publicity
14 October, 2022.