18-year-old bags two-year imprisonment for $500 fraud

Adebisi Aikulola
Adebisi Aikulola
Arrested fraudster

Justice Ismail Ijelu of an Ikeja Special Offences Court sentenced an 18-year-old Secondary School Certificate (SSCE) holder, Henry Bilabi, to a two-year imprisonment for impersonating on Tiktok to defraud unsuspecting citizens of $500.

The convict was, however, given the option of a N1 million fine, which must be paid within 30 days.

Justice Ijelu sentenced Bilabi following his plea bargain agreement to the charge of impersonation proffered against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The judge ordered the convict to carry out six-hour community service for three months, under the supervision of the officials of the Lagos Custodial Centre and write an undertaken never to go back to crime while his iPhone7 was forfeited to the Federal Government.

The judge held: “The court is satisfied that the defendant understands the plea bargain agreement, and accordingly, the defendant is hereby found guilty.”

Justice Ijelu chastised the convict, who just finished secondary school, saying that the only thing he could do well was commit crimes.

EFCC Counsel, Ahmed Yerima, in his review of facts, told the court that the commission received an intelligence report sometime in October 2023 that some young people were defrauding innocent citizens around Ajah.

Yerima said that the convict was arrested, and when his phone was analysed under forensic tools, some fraudulent documents were printed out of his TikTok account.

“He confessed to having created a fake Tiktok account where he represented himself as Grace David with the username grace_david2, where he benefited $50. He raised the manager’s cheque of N50,000 in favour of EFCC during the investigation,” he said.

The convict’s extra-judicial statement, iPhone7, cheque of N50,000 were admitted as evidence, following no objections from the defence counsel, Ms. Mary Uzodimma.

The convict, in his plea for mercy, prayed the court to temper justice with mercy.

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