By Nkechi Eze
In a landmark judgment, Justice Mahmud Abdulgafar of the Kwara State High Court, in Ilorin has sentenced a self-proclaimed spiritualist Odeyemi Hammed Oluwaseun to one year imprisonment for engaging in internet fraud.
The convict, was prosecuted by the Ilorin Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC on a two-count charge that bordered on internet fraud, impersonation and obtaining by false pretense.
A statement made available to newsmen by the Commission’s spokesperson Dele Oyewale states that; Count one of the charges reads: “That you, Odeyemi Hammed Oluwaseun, sometime in December, 2023 in Ilorin, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, dishonestly induced one Bose to send $3200.00 (Three Thousand Two Hundred Dollars) worth of gift cards to you, with the impression that the same would be used to diabolically influence her ex-husband to return and marry her, while you pretended and represented yourself to be one Lord Hill, a female spiritualist with email account hillor674@gmail.com, and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 321 of the Penal Code and punishable under Section 324 of the same Penal Code.”
Count two reads: “That you, Odeyemi Hammed Oluwaseun, between August, 2023 to September, 2023 in Ilorin within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, dishonestly induced one Schneider Alina to send $4500.00 (Four Thousand, Five Hundred Dollar) worth of gift cards to you, with the impression that the same would be used to diabolically control her ex-boyfriend to return and marry her, while you represented yourself to be a female spiritualist with Instagram account _Visions_by_Tendo_12 and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 321 of the Penal Code and punishable under Section 324 of the same Penal Code”
He pleaded guilty to the charges when they were read to him, following which prosecution counsel, Sesan Ola reviewed the facts of the case, tendered the convict’s extra-judicial statements and evidence, including the sum of $1000 (One Thousand United States Dollars) recovered from him and prayed the court to convict and sentence him as charged.
Convinced that the prosecution has proven its case beyond reasonable doubt, Justice Abdulgafar sentenced Oluwaseun to six months suspended jail term on each of the counts, and ordered that the sum of $1000 (One Thousand United States Dollars), iPhone 15 and 2008 Toyota Camry car recovered from him be forfeited to the federal government.
Oluwaseun, a 23-year-old man that hails from Oyo State, defrauded his victims on the internet by posing as an American-based female spiritualist with powers to cause jilted women and estranged wives to regain the affection of their men.
The EFCC remains committed to tracking down and bringing to justice to those engaged in online fraud and other forms of cybercrime.
