A Kwara State High Court in Ilorin, on Wednesday, convicted a 21-year-old man, Jatto Sheriff Umar, who claimed to be the founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg.
He was sentenced to six months suspended jail term for impersonation and cybercrime offences.
Five others were also convicted over similar offences by two separate Kwara State High Courts presided by Justice Mahmoud Abdulgafar and Justice Adenike Akinpelu.
They were charged before the two courts by the Ilorin Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
The five other convicts are a fake US military officer, Oguntoyinbo Oluwatobi Damilola, Taiwo Akinyemi Kayode, from Ekiti West Local Government Area of Ekiti state, Adebayo Adeola Mark, from Osi, Ekiti Local Government Area of Kwara state, Adedoyin Olayinka, from Ilesha West Local Government Area of Osun state and one Yusuf Alameen Abiodun, from Igbo-Owu area of Kwara state.
Jatto, Damilola, Taiwo and Mark, were prosecuted before Justice Abdulgafar, while Olayinka and Abiodun were charged before Justice Akinpelu’s court.
The defendants pleaded guilty to their separate charges.
Two lawyers of the anti-graft agency, Innocent Mbachie and R. E. Alao, who prosecuted the two cases urged the courts to take notice of the confessional statements and the guilty plea entered as well as the evidences tendered against the defendants, which included the devices used in perpetrating the crime, to convict and sentence them as charged.
Justice Abdulgafar, sentenced Jatto to six months jail term each on counts one and two, to run concurrently at Mandala Correctional Centre.
Though the sentences are suspended, the convict would be reporting to officials of the Correctional Centre, just as the court also ordered the forfeiture of his iPhone 12 Pro, laptop and manager’s cheque raised as restitution to his victims.
Damilola, also bagged six months suspended jail term on counts one and two, to run concurrently and forfeiture of the phone used to perpetrate the crime to the Federal government.
On Taiwo, Justice Abdulgafar, sentenced him to six months suspended jail term and ordered the forfeiture of his black Toyota Corolla car, registered LRN 237 RA, DA laptop, 11 Pro to the Federal government.
In a similar sentence, Mark, got a term of six months suspended jail and forfeiture of the phone used in committing the crime.
In her own judgement, Justice Akinpelu, sentenced Olayinka to six months jail term each on counts one and two, to run concurrently with a N200,000 fine option on each count.
The trial judge, also jailed Abiodun for six months with N200,000 fine option and ordered the forfeiture of a draft of N135,000 raised as restitution to the victim of the crime, as well as iPhone XR used as an instrument of the crime.
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