[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he Federal High Court in Kaduna on Thursday, March 26, 2020, sentenced Obi Sobenna, an internet fraudster also known as a ‘yahoo boy’, to one-year imprisonment and ordered him to forfeit N340,000 to the Federal Government. In Nigeria, internet fraudsters are colloquially called “yahoo boys” due to the use of Internet websites to commit fraud.
The presiding judge, Justice Z.B. Abubakar sentenced Mr. Sobenna after he pleaded guilty to internet fraud and obtaining money by false pretenses. Justice Abubakar, however, gave Sobenna an option to pay a fine of N300,000. The judge also ordered him to forfeit his HP Laptop worth N230,000 and one Samsung S8 worth N110,000 to the Federal Government.
Earlier, the council to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, P.C Onyeneho told the court that the Yahoo Boy, Sobenna was arrested on February 29, 2020, in Bauchi state by the operatives of the zonal office of the commission. Onyeneho said that the convict was arrested following a report by the Special Operation Section, ISOS, of the commission.
He stated that the ISOS report showed that the convict defrauded unsuspecting members of the public mainly job seekers using different email addresses. The convict posed as one Alex Miller, an American working with ”Interview Manager at Teletec also known as TTEC” with intent to gain an advantage for himself.
The anti-graft agency said that the convict obtained 70 dollars via iTunes Gift Card from Rebouche of the U.S. and thereby committed an offense contrary to and punishable under Section 22 (2)(b) of the Cyber Crimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) Act, 2015.
In February 20020, the acting chairman of the commission reported that the anti-graft agency had obtained over a thousand convictions in the past 14 months.
A.A. Mohammed, the counsel to the defendant, however, prayed the court to temper justice with mercy as his client was a first-time offender.
Hattip to Vanguard
