Six KWASU students, 2 others jailed for internet fraud
The six students of Kwara State University, KWASU jailed for internet fraud and the two others
Published By: Ayorinde Oluokun
By Ayorinde Oluokun/Abuja
Six students of Kwara State University, KWASU, and two others have been handed various jail terms after they pleaded guilty to offenses bordering on internet fraud.
The six students were among the 48 students of KWASU, and two residents of Malete arrested on Wednesday, February 21, 2024, during a sting operation by operatives of the Ilorin Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC for involvement in Internet fraud, Dele Oyewale, spokesperson for the anti-graft agency said in a statement.
The convicts are Afolabi Habeeb Ajao, Mohammed Nabeel Ayara, Oluyedun Khalid Bolaji, Oladele Israel Olatayo, Aransiola Joshua Adebisi, Olaleye Gbenga Philip, Bright Moses and Ogunrinde Gabriel Ayomikun.
They were arraigned before Justices Evelyn Anyadike of the Federal High Court sitting in Ilorin and Adebayo Yusuf of the Kwara State High Court, Ilorin on Wednesday, March 13, 2024,
The charge against Ogunrinde reads:
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“That you, Ogunrinde Gabriel Ayomikun sometime between April 2023 and February 2024 in Ilorin, Kwara State within the judicial division of the Federal High Court, did retain the sum of N3,500,000.00 (Three Million, Five Hundred Thousand Naira) in your bank account number 2151747289 with the name: Ogunrinde Gabriel Ayomikun domiciled with United Bank for African, which you knew to be proceeds of unlawful act and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 20 of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022”
They pleaded guilty when the charges were read to them individually.
Following their “guilty” pleas, prosecution counsel, Adebayo Aliyu, Sesan Ola, Mustapha Kiagama and Isabel Adeniran, reviewed the facts of the cases and tendered the statements of the defendants and items recovered from them at the point of arrest and were admitted in evidence.
Thereafter, Justice Anyadike convicted and sentenced Oluyedun, Olaleye, Ogunrinde, Bright, Aransiola and Oladele to a fine of N200,000 (Two Hundred Thousand Naira Only) each and ordered them to forfeit all the phones recovered from them to the government, including balances in their bank accounts.
In the same vein, Justice Yusuf convicted and sentenced the duo of Muhammed and Afolabi to six months imprisonment each with an option of fine of N50,000 (Fifty Thousand Naira Only).
The judge ordered that the phones, which they used to perpetrate the crime be forfeited to the Federal Government.
