Justice O. O. Abike-Fadipe of the Special Offences Court in Lagos on Tuesday convicted Dadeowo Hassan.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) prosecuted him on a two-count amended charge bordering on possession of documents used to perpetrate internet fraud.
The EFCC said on or about May 4, 2021 in Lagos, Hassan with intent to defraud, had a document titled MARYLAND DEPARTMENT OF LABOUR, printed out of email rdhfdfgd21@gmail.com.
Hassan was accused of printing the document from a website – UNICC, where he purchased an American social security number.
After he pleaded “guilty” to the charges, the prosecuting counsel, M. S. Owede, gave a review of the facts of the case.
Owede recalled that following intelligence on the activities of internet fraudsters operating within Victoria Garden City (VGC), the EFCC carried out a raid.
“This defendant was arrested with his tools: iPhone X, iPhone 12 Pro Max, a Nokia phone, and a Hewlett-Packard laptop”, the lawyer said.
Owede tendered the statement Hassan made to the EFCC, documents from his email and a cheque of N500,000 he issued as part of a plea bargain agreement.
The documents were admitted in evidence against him and marked Exhibits P1a, P1b, P1c, P1d, P2, P3, P4 and P5.
Justice Abike-Fadipe found Haasan guilty as charged and sentenced him to one year in prison, with an option of N1million fine and 40 hours of community service.
The convict is to forfeit to the Federal Government the devices recovered from him, including the N500,000 bank draft.
