Justice Efe Ikponmwonba of Edo State High Court sitting in Benin City, on Tuesday, July 18, 2023, convicted and sentenced 22-year-old Prince Belebi Koko and three others to jail for internet fraud.
The others are Igwe Favour, 22, Destiny Nonso Igwe, 24 and Ojo Jolly, 25. Their journey to prison began following their arrest for involvement in internet fraud. The defendants admitted to the crime and were subsequently arraigned on one count charge of unlawful possession of fraudulent documents by the Benin Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
Upon arraignment the defendants pleaded guilty to their respective charges prompting prosecution counsel, A.S.Bala- Ribah and Al-Amin Abdul Ibrahim to pray the court to convict and sentence them accordingly.
Justice Ikponmwonba convicted and sentenced Favour, Igwe , Koko and Jolly to three years imprisonment with an option of Two Hundred Thousand Naira as fine
The court ordered the convicts to forfeit one Lexus Rx 350, one Lexus RX 350 and mobile phones, being proceeds of crime, to the Federal Government of Nigeria.
The charge against Igwe reads: “That you, Destiny Nonso Igwe (m) on or about 22nd May, 2023 within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court did have in your possession on your iPhone 14 Pro Max with IMEI: 355063666756159 documents which you knew or ought to have known contain false pretence and thereby committed an offence contrary to section 6 and 8 of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act 2006 and punishable under section 1(3) of the same Act”.
