Court Jails Fake US Military Officer For Internet Fraud

The Kaduna State High Court, presided over by Justice A.A. Bello, found and sentenced Zulayman Haruna, a fake US military officer, to two years in prison.

On Wednesday, November 30, 2023, he was imprisoned following his plea of guilty to a single count of internet fraud at his arraignment by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Kaduna Zonal Command, EFCC.

The one-count charge reads: “That you Zulayman Haruna (a.k.a Mariee Guerrero) between January and October 2023 at Kaduna within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, attempted to commit an offence and in such an attempt did a certain act towards the commission of the said offence, to wit: falsely presented yourself as Mariee Guerrero a white female military personnel to one Greg and other several unsuspecting victims on Facebook, (a social media application) in order to cheat them and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 57 of the Kaduna State Penal Code Law of 2017 and punishable under Section 309 of the same Law.”

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In a statement released by the commission on Friday, December 1, it was stated that Haruna entered a guilty plea to the accusation, following which prosecution attorney E.K. Garba urged the court to find him guilty.

Judge Bello found Haruna guilty and sentenced him to two years in prison, with the possibility of a N150,000.00 (one hundred and fifty thousand naira) fine. In addition, he gave up his iPhone X, which served as the criminal’s instrument, to the FBI and the Federal Trade Commission.

Similarly, Didam Jesse was given a two-year prison sentence by Justice A. A. Isiaka of the Kaduna State High Court, which was seated in Kaduna.

When he was arraigned by the Kaduna Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, or EFCC, he entered a guilty plea to a single count of defrauding by impersonation and was subsequently sent in jail.

The charge reads: “That you Didam Jesse, (a.k.a Endurance Prince David) sometime in February 2023, in Kaduna within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, did commit an offence to wit: cheating by impersonation wherein you falsely presented yourself as one Endurance Princes David on Facebook, (an online social media platform) and in such assumed identity, cheated one Naziru HB the total sum of N7000 and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 308 of the Kaduna State Penal Code Law, 2017 and punishable under Section 309 of the same Law.”

After he entered a guilty plea to the accusation, M. Lawal, the prosecution’s attorney, requested the court to find him guilty.

He was found guilty by Justice Isiaka and given a two-year prison sentence, with the possibility of a N100,000 (one hundred thousand naira) punishment. In addition, he turned over the Techno Spark 8P, the instrument of the crime, and the N7,000 (seven thousand naira) proceeds to the Federal Government via the EFCC.

The two convicts’ journey to the Correctional Centre began when they were caught in Kaduna for internet-related charges.

When the EFCC prosecuted them, they were discovered to be impersonators. They were found guilty and sentenced accordingly by the court.