Categories: metro

‘Femi Adesina’ jailed 28 years for impersonation, fraud

A Kwara State High Court sitting in Ilorin has sentenced one Jamiu Isiaka to 28 years at the Mandala Correctional Centre, Ilorin for impersonating the Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, to commit fraud against a South Korean national.

The Ilorin Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission prosecuted the impersonation and fraud case.

The EFCC had on June 14, 2019 arraigned the defendant on four-count charges, to which he pleaded not guilty.

Delivering judgement on Thursday, however, Justice Mahmud Abdulgafar held that the prosecution had tendered enough evidence to convince the court that the defendant was guilty as charged.

The court found Isiaka guilty of the charges and sentenced him to seven years in prison on each count, to run concurrently.

The judge ordered the forfeiture of some properties recovered from the convict, which were proceeds of his unlawful activities.

The forfeited properties included a four bedroom bungalow located at Oke-Foma, Ilorin; a Toyota Corolla car; plasma television; home theatre; freezer; generator; washing machine; and an LG air conditioner to the Federal Government.

In addition, the court also ordered restitution to the victim of the crime.

The prosecution had averred that Isiaka had presented himself as Adesina and a former Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, late Maikanti Baru, to Keun Sig Kim, a  South Korean, to defraud him of N30 million.

While parading himself as a senior government official, the convict deceived the foreign national to collect various sums of money under the pretence of securing for him NNPC approved marketing form and license certificate to buy crude oil in Nigeria, the court heard.

In the course of interrogation, the defendant claimed that he used the money to conduct sacrifice for the petitioner.

According to Isiaka, part of the money was used to buy a vulture, elephant skin, elephant intestine, skull of a lion and liver of a gorilla, all used as ingredients for the sacrifice.

In the course of the trial, counsel to the EFCC, O. B Akinsola, called two witnesses, including a police detective, Dare Folarin, who narrated how the defendant was arrested and several fraudulent funds traced to his bank accounts.

The prosecutor tendered evidence on how the defendant obtained the sum of $88,521 from his victim under the guise of helping him to procure an approval form from the NNPC.

Akinsola said the offence was contrary to section 1(1)(a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006.

The Eagle Online

Trends Admin

Recent Posts

UCL Roundup: Arsenal, Bayern triumph as Man City let 3-0 lead slip

UCL Roundup: Arsenal, Bayern triumph as Man City let 3-0 lead slip Arsenal and Bayern…

19 minutes ago

Man gets four-year jail for sexually assaulting teenager in Lagos

Man gets four-year jail for sexually assaulting teenager in Lagos One Onyeka Ubaka has been sentenced to…

23 minutes ago

Lagos taskforce raids criminal hideout, arrests 53 drug peddlers

Lagos taskforce raids criminal hideout, arrests 53 drug peddlers CSP Adetayo Akerele, Chairman of Lagos State Environmental…

27 minutes ago

Nigeria’s foreign reserves records marginal increase, now $40.88bn – Cardoso

Nigeria's foreign reserves records marginal increase, now $40.88bn - Cardoso    Nigeria's foreign reserves rose…

29 minutes ago

Naira rises to N1,755/$ in parallel market

Naira rises to N1,755/$ in parallel market The Naira yesterday appreciated to N1,755 per dollar in…

35 minutes ago

Nigeria Customs returns 21 stolen luxury vehicles to Canada

Nigeria Customs returns 21 stolen luxury vehicles to Canada The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) yesterday returned 21 luxury…

39 minutes ago