The trial of one Anthony Obi before Honourable Justice O.O. Abike-Fadipe of a Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos continued on Tuesday, 16 August 2022 with the defendant pleading guilty to an amended one-count charge brought against him by the Lagos Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) under Section 331 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2011.
Obi was accused of receiving fraudulently obtained property to wit money totalling a sum of N16,700,000.
The count reads: “Anthony Obi on or about the 7th day of December 2020 and January 2021 in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, retained in your control, the sum of Sixteen Million Seven Hundred Thousand Naira (N16,700,000.00) only being proceeds of criminal conduct on behalf of one Mr. lloh and others at large.”
He pleaded guilty to the charge.
Thereafter, the prosecuting counsel, G.C. Akaogu, gave a review of the facts and urged the court to convict him as charged.
He told the court that the defendant was arrested on the 8th of July 2021 in Ajah, Lagos following actionable intelligence that he was into internet fraud.
According to him, he was subsequently brought to the EFCC’s Lagos office where mobile devices found on him were forensically analysed and his statement taken.
“Fraudulent documents were printed out from his phone which gave a clue to the nature of his illegal activities which is specifically as a picker, who receives money from such internet fraud on behalf of fraudsters for a percentage,” he said.
He further told the court that the defendant confessed under interrogation that he benefitted the sum of N16,700,000 in different transactions through crypto traders from Mr Iloh who is currently at large.
Thereafter he tendered in evidence the statement of the defendant and the mobile phones recovered from him.
He also added that along with the phones, a Mercedes Benz C300 2016 model was also recovered from him all of which he admitted were proceeds of his illegal activities.
The statements of the defendant and the mobile devices recovered from him were tendered in evidence and admitted as exhibits against him.
Afterwards, Justice Abike-Fadipe found him guilty as charged.
The defendant was allowed to address the court. He pleaded for mercy, promising not to go back to the fraudulent activities.
Justice Abike-Fadipe sentenced him to one year in prison and gave him an option of a fine of N1 million and 80 hours of community service. Items recovered from him were also ordered forfeited to the Federal Government.