. As another court jailes banker 20yrs for N31m property fraud
Blessing Omale, Abuja
The Edo State High Court sitting in Benin City has convicted and sentenced five internet fraudsters to prison terms for offences bordering on obtaining by false pretence, retention of proceeds of crime, and possession of fraudulent documents.
The convicts, James Joseph, Osamuyimen Okunbor, Osabuochien Aisogbonbu Francis, Mathew Odosa Obedience, and Samuel Friday, were arraigned before Justice M. Itsueli by the Benin Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
They each faced separate one-count charges.
One of the charges against Francis read:
“That you, Osabuochien Aisogbonbu Francis (m), on or about the 15th of August, 2025, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did have in your possession, on your iPhone Xs Max with IMEI Number 358744092932905, documents which you knew or ought to have known contained a false pretence and thereby committed an offence contrary to Sections 6 and 8 of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act 2006 and punishable under Section 1(3) of the same Act.”
Upon arraignment, all five defendants pleaded guilty to the charges.
Prosecution counsel, K.Y. Bello and M.S. Dahiru, thereafter urged the court to convict them in line with their pleas, while the defence counsel appealed for leniency, stressing that the defendants were first-time offenders who had shown remorse.
In his judgment, Justice Itsueli sentenced each of the defendants to two years imprisonment with an option of a ₦300,000 fine.
The court further ordered the forfeiture of their mobile phones, laptops, and the funds traced to their bank accounts, all identified as proceeds and instruments of crime to the Federal Government. Additionally, the convicts signed undertakings to be of good behaviour henceforth.
Their conviction followed a sting operation carried out by operatives of the EFCC in Benin, acting on credible intelligence that linked them to fraudulent online activities.
Dele Oyewale, Head of Media and Publicity at the EFCC, confirmed the convictions in a statement issued on Tuesday.
. as Court jails Mortgage Banker 20 years for ₦31m property fraud
In another development, A Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja has sentenced a mortgage banker, Sulaiman Olayiwola Gbajabiamila, to 20 years imprisonment for defrauding a property seeker of ₦31 million in a fraudulent housing deal.
Justice I. O. Ijelu delivered the judgment on Monday, after finding Gbajabiamila guilty on all seven counts preferred against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The charges bordered on stealing, obtaining money under false pretences, forgery, and retention of proceeds of crime.
Gbajabiamila was first arraigned on September 19, 2023.
He pleaded not guilty, forcing the case to go into full trial.
The EFCC’s prosecution counsel, Abdulhamid L. Tukur, called two witnesses and presented several documents, which exposed how the convict diverted funds that were meant for the purchase of a two-bedroom apartment in the Lagos Homes Estate, Iponri.
Investigations revealed that Gbajabiamila was introduced to the victim, Lateef Ayo Adeyemo, by an estate agent identified as Lukman.
Adeyemo, in search of a flat, paid ₦31 million to the banker for the acquisition of a property.
However, the transaction never materialised, as Gbajabiamila converted the money to his personal use.
Court documents also showed that in October 2021, he forged a Sterling Bank manager’s cheque valued at ₦10 million in favour of STB Building Society Limited as part of the fraudulent scheme.
In his ruling, Justice Ijelu held that the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt.
He sentenced Gbajabiamila to five years imprisonment for stealing, with an option of a ₦1 million fine.
He also imposed seven years for obtaining under false pretences, two years each for three counts of forgery with an option of ₦1 million fine on each count, two years for using false documents with an option of ₦200,000 fine, and four years for retention of proceeds of crime with an option of ₦500,000 fine.
Before sentencing, defence counsel T. E. Gbado pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy, arguing that his client was a first-time offender who had shown remorse.
The judge, however, insisted that the magnitude of the fraud required a firm response to deter similar crimes.
Reacting to the judgment, EFCC spokesperson Dele Oyewale described the ruling as a victory for victims of property fraud and a stern warning to fraudulent real estate operators who prey on unsuspecting Nigerians.
