N77m: Cyber fraudster jailed in Kwara

The Ilorin Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC on Thursday, January 20, 2022 secured the conviction of one Alonge Toyyib Alao, a 24 year-old student of the Kwara State University, KWASU, Malete, over offences bordering on cybercrime and possession of fraudulent funds.

Justice Adenike Akinpelu of the Kwara State High Court sitting in Ilorin sentenced Alonge to one-year imprisonment after the court found him guilty of the two-count charge levelled against him by the anti-graft agency.

Count one of the charge against him reads:

“That you, Alonge Toyyib Alao, sometime in April 2020 to April 2021 in Ilorin, Kwara State within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court did knowingly have under your control Seventy Four Million, Seven Hundred and Fifty Three Thousand, Two Hundred and Sixty One Naira (74,753,261) paid into your Fidelity Bank Account No 6323625884 which is reasonably suspected to be unlawfully obtained and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 319A of the Penal Code Law and punishable under the same law”

The defendant pleaded guilty to the charge.

Following his plea, counsel to the EFCC, Rasheedat Alao, presented a witness, Kamaluddeen Yahayah, to review the facts of the case. Yahayah, who is an operative of the EFCC in his evidence narrated the circumstances that led to Alonge’s arrest. Some of the items recovered from him, which included a Lexus 350 car, phone, and apple laptop as well as the fraudulent messages printed from his email were presented and admitted in evidence.

Alao urged the court to consider the testimonies of the sole prosecution witness, the “guilty plea” by the defendant and the exhibits tendered as well as the provisions of the law to pass judgment.

Justice Akinpelu, in her judgement on the case sentenced Alonge to six months imprisonment on each of the two counts with N100,000 (One Hundred Thousand Naira Only) as fine on each count.

The Judge ordered that a Lexus 350 car, phone and one apple laptop recovered from the convict at point of arrest be forfeited to the Federal Government.