EFCC Secures Conviction of Fraudster in Benue

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Makurdi zonal office, Benue State, on Wednesday secured the conviction of one Abdulkadir Musa Inna at the Federal High Court in Makurdi presided by Justice Mobolaji Olajuwon.

Inna is to spend the next year in prison custody after he was arraigned and convicted on a one-count charge of fraudulent impersonation.

The count read that Abdulkadir Musa Inna and one Aliyu Musa Mohammed now at large, sometime in September 2019 in Nigeria within the jurisdiction of the court, conspired among themselves to use a GTBank ATM card belonging to Aliyu Musa Mohammed to withdraw money paid in by one Abigail Atsuku that resulted in her loss of N30,000.

“By this act, you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 33(2) of the Cybercrime (prohibition, prevention etc) Act 2015 and punishable under section 33 (2) of the same Act,” the charge read.

Inna pleaded guilty to the charge when it was read to him, with the prosecuting counsel, G G Chia-Yakua, praying the court to accept the plea bargain agreement and that he be convicted him accordingly.

 

Justice Olajuwon pronounced Abdulkadir Musa Inna guilty and subsequently sentenced him to one-year imprisonment with an option of fine of N50,000.

Olajuwon also added that the sum of N30, 000 that he had refunded during the course of the investigation should be paid to the complainant as restitution.

Musa was arrested by operatives of the EFCC in Lagos through a petition received from a complainant that on September 6, 2019, she ordered for a gadget online through her Instagram account.

The complainant said having struck a deal with the supposed seller of the gadget, she transferred the sum of N30,000 to the account number sent to her but the product was never delivered to her.

She only realised later that she had been duped by online fraudsters who were using several accounts to defraud their victims.

During the investigation, the convict admitted his wrongdoing and showed remorse for his actions. He confessed that N30, 000 was given to him as his share in the deal and that he has refunded the money.