Justice Darius Khobo of a Kaduna High Court on Tuesday ordered the forfeiture of an internet fraudster’s two iPhones and three laptops to the Federal Government.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Kaduna office, charged Christian David, with computer related fraud and obtaining money by false pretences.
Delivering judgment, Khobo, also sentenced the convict to one year imprisonment after he pleaded guilty of the charge.
The judge however gave David an option to pay N300,000 fine and ordered him pay 3,000 dollars restitution to the complainant, Japheth Eric.
”If the convict fails to pay the complainant, he will serve another one year imprisonment,” he held.
Earlier, the EFCC Counsel, P. C. Onyeneho, told to the court that sometime in Sept. 2020, the Intelligence and Special Operation Section(ISOS) of the commission acted on an intelligent information received
Onyeneho said the commission received information which indicated that the convict was a ‘serial’ fraudster who defrauded unsuspecting members of the public, mainly job seekers, using different email addresses.
He said that the convict fraudulently impersonated one Alex Jason, a tech manager and obtained 3,000 dollars from the complainant.
The prosecution further stated that upon receiving the information the commission swung into action and arrested the convict at the Millennium City, Television in Kaduna.
Onyeneho said the offence contraravenes the provisions of sections 22 (2)(b) and 21 of the Cyber Crimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) Act, 2015.
The Defence Counsel, James Timothy, pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy, stating that the convict was a first time offender.
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