The Lagos State Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja has convicted and sentenced one Ekwue Joshua Femi to one year in prison for defrauding an American, Sheedy Morgan, of the sum of $20,000 (Twenty Thousand United States Dollars), News About Nigeria reports.
In a post shared on the official X account of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Wednesday, the anti-graft agency disclosed that they secured the conviction and sentencing of the fraudster on November 9, 2023.
Justice O.O. Abike Fadipe jailed Ekwue to one year in prison based on two-count charges that border on impersonation, obtaining under false pretence, and money laundering.
According to the court, the convict had pretended to be a lady on Facebook in order to defraud the American citizen.
“That you, Ekwue Joshua Femi, sometime in May 2023, in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, with intent to defraud one Sheedy Morgan, a United States of America citizen, falsely represented yourself to be Mary Lanning Werner’ on your Facebook account, and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 380 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015,” one of the counts against him reads.
Ekwue, who pleaded guilty to the charges against him, was arrested in September 2023 at Bana Hotel, Olodi Apapa area of Lagos State, following credible intelligence received by the EFCC.
According to the Commission, they recovered an iPhone 11, iPhone 14, and Mercedes Benz ML350 4matic when he was arrested.
Following his guilty plea, Justice Fadipe convicted and sentenced Ekwue to one-year imprisonment, with an option of a N1,000,000 fine.
The judge also ordered that his mobile phones and Mercedes Benz be forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria, while his digital assets will be returned to the victim, Sheedy Morgan.
