The Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos State, yesterday sentenced Andrew Aigbedion, an internet fraudster, to a year jail term.
Aigbedion was arraigned by the Lagos zonal office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a count charge of possession of a fraudulent document.
According to the court papers, the accused, alias Steve, on or about January 5, 2018 in Lagos, had in his possession a document wherein he falsely represented himself to one Anne as a widower originally from
Greece and had also lived in the United States of America for less than 26 months, a representation he knew to be false.
The prosecution counsel, Bilkisu Buhari, informed the court that the convict had pleaded guilty to a charge preferred against him at the last sitting and consequently moved to review the facts of the case.
“Sometime in May 2017, Aigbedion was arrested by operatives of the EFCC and upon his arrest, he volunteered his statement. In the course of the investigation, he admitted to being into romance scam. The defendant impersonated a white man named Steve and confessed to obtaining the sum of $15,000 and N7 million from unsuspecting members of the public.
“The defendant also admitted to purchasing two exotic cars from the proceeds of crime, which he agreed to forfeit to the federal government,” Buhari said.
Justice Sherifat Solebo found Aigbedion guilty of the offence and sentenced him to one year imprisonment. The convict also forfeited his cars to the federal government.
