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 a 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.
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