Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke of the Federal High Court, sitting in Ikoyi has convicted a fraudster, Chika Stanley Okoh who posed as a male American actor on Facebook to defraud unsuspecting victims.
Chika Stanley Okoh was arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC in December 2024 on a one-count charge bordering on cybercrime, Dele Oyewale, Head, Media & Publicity of the anti-graft agency said in a statement on Tuesday.
The charge reads: “That you Chika Stanley Okoh sometimes in 2024, in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, fraudulently held out yourself on facebook account @Zachary Levi as Zachary Levi, a male American actor, with intention to gain advantage for yourself and you thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 22(3) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition etc.) Act, 2015.”
He pleaded “guilty” to the charge when it was read to him, following which prosecution counsel, B.I. Oluseyi, invited an investigative officer of the EFCC, Damilare Adeosun to give a review of the facts of the case.
Adeosun told the court that the EFCC sometime in November 2024 received credible intelligence on the activities of internet fraudsters around the Lekki axis of Lagos and that “Acting on the intelligence, a sting operation was conducted at Lekki County Estate, Lagos State, where Okoh was arrested alongside several others,” and was taken to EFCC office where he volunteered his statement.
“The defendant misrepresented himself to be a white man from the United States with the name Jonathan. The defendant also confessed that he does middle-man fraud by facilitating proceeds of fraud for internet fraudsters. And he gets a certain percentage from every transaction being facilitated. The defendant confessed to have benefitted the sum of N2 million, which he used to purchase an iPhone 14 Pro Max. The device was recovered from him upon his arrest. The phone was examined by the forensic laboratory department and the forensic analysis revealed fraudulent documents,” he said.
Adeosun added that in the course of the investigations, Okoh raised a United Bank for Africa (UBA) manager’s cheque of N1 million as restitution.
The prosecution counsel tendered in evidence, Okoh’s confessional statement, the device recovered from him, findings from the investigation and the manager’s cheque with no objection from the defence counsel, Peter Taiwo.
In his judgment, Justice Aneke held that the prosecution proved its case beyond reasonable doubt and pronounced Okoh guilty as charged.
He was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment or to pay a fine of N1,000,000 (One Million Naira Only), to be paid into the Consolidated Revenue Account of the Federation. In addition, he is to serve 100 hours of community service.
