Justice Fatun Riman of the Federal High Court sitting in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, on Friday, May 10 2019, convicted and sentenced Daniel Iluobe, Ifeanyi Chukwudi Paul and Godwin Joseph Ovboke to two years imprisonment each, for internet fraud.
Iluobe, while posing as a Chinese, Huang Guang, fraudulently sent electronic messages to a Chinese woman promising her marriage. He further demanded the sum of $200 which his victim sent to him via Western Union.
Ovboke falsely portrayed himself as Lancelot Degory, a United States citizen, and succeeded in defrauding one Cheow Lim of $1,400, after he lied to her that he was going to meet her in Singapore where they were supposed to get married.
Paul on the other hand claimed he was a Construction Engineer based in Syria, and under that guise, he succeeded in defrauding one Simone Cardoso of £600 (Six Hundred Pounds) with a false promise of marriage. Gistvic Reports.
The convicts were arraigned on separate charges and all three pleaded “guilty” to the one-count charge preferred against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
The prosecution witness, Joseph Simon Akor, an EFCC operative, narrated how the convicts were arrested at different locations and on different dates, following intelligence gathered during surveillance.
He told the court that Paul was arrested on May 5, 2019 at his apartment on Charles Effiong Close, Satellite Town, Calabar, while Ovboke and Iluobe were arrested at Itagbor Agbeansa area of Calabar.
“During investigations, forensic analysis carried out on their laptops showed that they were into internet fraud as we saw all the electronic messages they used to dupe their victims,” he said.
