Internet Fraud: Undergraduate Bags Three Years Imprisonment in Rivers

Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt

A Federal High Court in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, has convicted and sentenced one Peter Againpriye, an undergraduate of the University of Calabar, to three years imprisonment over internet fraud.

Againpriye was charged to court by the  Port Harcourt Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for impersonation, obtaining money by false pretence and possession of fraudulent documents contrary to Section 1 (1) (a) and punishable under Section 1 (3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act.

He was convicted after pleading “guilty” to a three-count charge against him.

Parts of the charge read: “That you, Peter Ayigi Againpriye (aka Diana Wilson) on or about March 6, 2023, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, within the jurisdiction of this court with the intent to defraud did obtain the sum of three thousand euros (€3,000,00) from Keess Van Darr under false pretence that you were investing in Forex, which representation you knew to be false, and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 1 (1) (a) and punishable under Section 1 (3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act.

“That you, Peter Ayigi Againpriye (aka Diana Wilson) on or about March 16, 2023, in Port Harcourt, within the jurisdiction of this court, did fraudulently impersonate Diana Wilson with intent to gain advantage for yourself and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 22 (2) (b) (i) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) Act, 2015 and punishable under the same Section of the Act.”

In view of the plea by the defendant, the prosecution counsel, E. K. Ebipade, invited a witness and tendered documents to prove the case.

Items tendered included: iPhone 12 Pro Max, iPhone XR, statement of the defendant, consent to search devices form, certificate of compliance and scam documents printed from the defendant’s Instagram account. All tendered documents were accepted by the court and marked as exhibits 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 respectively.

An operative of the commission, Albert Kukah, in his evidence, told the court that the defendant was arrested sometime in June 2023 in an operation tagged: ‘Eagle Sweep’, at Golf Estate, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, for alleged internet fraud activities.

He disclosed that the investigation revealed that the defendant was involved in internet fraud and opened several Gmail, Instagram and Facebook accounts, where he falsely presented himself as Diana Wilson in chats with Keess Van Darr, with whom he defrauded the sum of €3,000.

Based on the documents tendered and the testimony of PW 1, the prosecution prayed the court to convict and sentence the defendant as charged.

Counsel to the defendant, B. J. Jeoffrey who did not oppose the prayers by the prosecution, urged the court to temper justice with mercy.

Delivering his judgement on the matter, the trial Judge, Justice E. A Obile, convicted and sentenced the defendant to one year imprisonment with N50,000 as option of fine on each of the counts.

The Judge further ordered that the iPhone 12 Pro Max and iPhone XR recovered from the convict be forfeited to the Federal Republic of Nigeria.