A Federal High Court in Ibadan, on Thursday, sentenced an Ibadan- based internet fraudster, Opeyemi James, to four months imprisonment for hacking into people’s Instagram accounts.
Justice P.I. Ajoku said the convict was sentenced based on his guilty plea to a charge of advanced free fraud and the plea bargain he entered into with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
“In consideration of the plea bargain agreement between the convict and EFCC and in line with the provision of Section 270 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015, James is hereby convicted.
“All the exhibits found in his possession are forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria,” the judge said.
Earlier, Counsel to the EFCC, Mr A.S. Suleiman, had told the court that the defendantn committed the offences on March 28 in Ibadan, Oyo State.
Suleiman said that the agency received a tip off from residents that a bunch of internet fraudsters were in their neighbourhood and EFCC operatives swung into action.
He said the defendant specialised in hacking into unsuspecting victims’ instagram account and had developed a method of defrauding them.
According to the EFCC counsel, the defendant had also impersonated one Kadosa, a foreigner.
He said that a cash sum of N888,995 was recovered from his bank account as well as two mobile phones.
The offence, he said, contravened Section 22 (2) and (B) of the Cyber Crime Act, 2015.
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