Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo of the Special Offence court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos has sentenced one Abdulrauf Alade Owolabi to one year imprisonment, with an option of N250,000 (Two Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira), for possession of false documents and obtaining money by false pretence to the tune of $5,000 (Five Thousand US Dollars).
The convict was arraigned on a two-count charge by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Lagos Zonal office, on Thursday, February 6, 2020, following his arrest in connection to a case reported against him during an operation tagged “Operation Rewired” between the Commission and the Federal Bureau of Investigations, FBI.
One of the counts reads: “ That you, Abdulrauf Alade Owolabi, sometime in 2018 in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of the court, and with intent to defraud, represented yourself as Courtney Lopez and defrauded one John Howard, an American Citizen, an aggregate sum of $5,000. 00(Five Thousand US Dollars) under the pretext that you are in love with him and made a promise of marriage, a representation you knew to be fraud and committed an offence contrary to Sections 1 (3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and other Fraud Related Offences Act No: 14 of 2006.”
He pleaded guilty to the charge when it was read to him.
In view of his guilty plea, and subsequent review of the facts of the case, the prosecution counsel, M.K. Bashir, prayed the court to convict him accordingly.
The prosecution also prayed for an order of the court forfeiting the recovered assets to the victim.
Counsel to the defendant, however, pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy, saying his client was a first-time offender.
Consequently, Justice Taiwo convicted and sentenced the defendant to one year imprisonment, with an option of fine of Two Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira (N250,000.00).
