An Ikeja Special Offences Court on Thursday sentenced a 23-year-old man, Chinedu Omesu, to one year imprisonment for defrauding an Asian-American woman, Kim Soon, of $475,000.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the convict had pleaded guilty to three counts bordering on possession of fraudulent documents.
In her judgment, Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo sentenced the convict to one year imprisonment, after listening to his guilty plea and allocutus from the defence counsel.
“The one year sentence should start from Jan.1, 2022, without an option of fine.
“As part of efforts towards restituting the victim, the convict should hand over his Lexus SUV to the prosecution within 60 days.
He should also hand over the sum of N8.5 million being part of the proceeds of the crime that is in the custody of his father, to the prosecution,” she said.
Earlier, Rotimi Oyedepo, the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) counsel, said the defendant committed the offences on March 31, 2021.
Oyedepo said that the convict was arrested at James Court Hotel, Ikate, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos on April 21, 2021.
He said the convict portrayed himself as one Frederick Leo Ryan, a serving military operative of the United States with Finnish descent and dishonestly defrauded the victim of $475, 000.
The prosecutor said upon arrest, some documents and digital devices, which included an iPhone 11 Pro Max, iPhone 7+, Nokia TA iPhone 1004 and one iTel phone were found on the convict.
“Investigation also uncovered a Mercedes Benz ALG parked in his premises, which at the time was worth N36 million.
“Upon arrest, the digital devices recovered from him were subjected to forensic analysis wherein it was found that the defendant had in his possession various degrees of documents used as an intermediate step to defraud a woman known as Kim Soon.
“These documents were found to be false and through the various false pretences contained, the victim lost about $475,000 to the defendant between February and April 2021,” Oyedepo said.