Court jails undergraduate two years for internet fraud, gives option of fine

The Federal High Court in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, on Wednesday, sentenced a final year student at the University of Port Harcourt to two years imprisonment for internet fraud, although with an option of fine.

The student, Henry Ekanem, who was arrested in September, allegedly defrauded, including one person of $22 through impersonation on social media platforms.

A statement by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said the judge, A. T. Mohammed, convicted the student of all seven counts of obtaining money under false pretences and impersonation preferred against him.

According to the statement, the defendant pleaded guilty when the charges were read to him before the judge pronounced his conviction on Wednesday.

In view of his plea, the prosecution lawyer, A. Abubakar, called witnesses and tendered some documents as evidence, which the court admitted and marked as exhibits. After that, he urged the court to convict and sentence the defendant accordingly.

Defence lawyer F. T. Fred-Boufini did not oppose the prosecution’s prayer. She rather prayed the court to temper justice with mercy, stressing that the defendant was a first-time offender with no previous criminal records.

The judge then convicted him and sentenced him to two years imprisonment on each of the seven counts with an option of a fine of N200,000. The fine is payable into the Consolidated Revenue Account of the Federal Government of Nigeria.

If the convict opts for a prison sentence instead of a fine, he will spend only two years in incarceration since the two years that each of the seven counts attracted will run concurrently.

The judge also ordered that all the phones recovered from the convict be forfeited to the government, being proceeds of crime. The convict shall also swear to an affidavit of good behaviour before the court.
EFCC operatives arrested him in September 2024 at Choba, Port Harcourt, for internet fraud and other fraud-related activities.

He successfully defrauded victims. The prosecution said he defrauded Diana Roskov by fraudulently representing himself as Coran Capsha, the manager of the singer Chris Stapleton, through WhatsApp and Instagram chats.

One of the charges against him reads: “That you, Henry Nathaniel Ekanem, on or about September 17, 2024, at Choba in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, with intent to defraud, did obtain the sum of Twenty-Two United States Dollars ($22) from Diana Roskov by fraudulently representing yourself as Coran Capsha, the manager of singer Chris Stapleton, a pretence you knew to be false. This act constitutes an offence contrary to Section 1(1)(a) and punishable under Section 1(3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud-Related Offenses Act 2006.”