In connection to an online scam case, an FCT High Court in Gwagwalada on Thursday instructed one student, Istifanus Irmiya, to clean the EFCC’s offices for two weeks.
Irmiya was penalised by the EFCC for a two-count charge of impersonation and cheating.
According to the EFCC counsel, Ms. Taiwo Aromolaran, Irmiya committed fraud through impersonation sometime in 2022 within the court’s jurisdiction.
Aromolaran noted that the criminal tricked his victim into believing he was one mistress Clara, a Caucasian.
She said that the criminal committed an illegal act when he forced a German guy named Alex Lexis to wire him the sum of 250 Euros, which he then transferred to his own account with Polaris Bank via the apps Nosh and PayPal.
She said that sometime in 2022, the convict also had documents in his hands that had false representations of him as a German on his Facebook and KK accounts, which he had set up with the intention of getting Alex Lexis to send money to him.
The EFCC counsel claimed that the crime violated Section 321 of the Penal Code Act of the Federation (Abuja), 1990 and was penalised in accordance with Section 324 of the same Act.
Additionally, Section 6 of the Advance-Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act, 2006, in conjunction with Section 8, which is criminal under Section 1(3) of the same Act.
However, the defence counsel, Mr. Chibuike Chima, said that Irmiya, the only son of his parents, has never been arrested before and has never been found guilty of another crime of any type.
By showing repentance and expressing remorse for the crime he committed, the convict has returned the $250 in proceeds from the crime.
Irmiya conceded the allegations and appealed to the judge for forgiveness, adding that as “a changed person”, he would not be involved in such acts again.
The Judge noted that although the student was a first-time offender, he would not go scot-free, to which the presiding judge, Justice Aliyu Shafa ruled that Irmiya cleaned the commission’s sites from 9 am to 12 pm every day for two weeks.
The Judge also ordered that he paid a fine of N100,000 and that the phone used for fraud be burnt.