The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ibadan zonal office, on Thursday, arraigned one Ilesanmi Babatunde Yemi, a final year accounting student of Ekiti State University, before Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court sitting in Ibadan, Oyo State, on a 5-count charge of fraud and romance scam.
Yemi allegedly specializes in love and romance scam on internet. The defendant, while posing as American Army Officer by the name ‘Dennis Martinez’ serving in Libya allegedly engages unsuspecting ladies on the internet in a dating and romance scam through which he fleeces them of their money. The last victims were two ladies from Australia which he allegedly swindled to the tune of $500 in tranches.
One of the counts reads:
“That you, Ilesanmi Babatunde Yemi, sometimes in year 2014, at Ibadan within the jurisdiction of this Federal High Court, did directly take possession of the sum of 7,000 British Pounds only transferred to you by one Carolyn Hide which sum you knew or reasonably ought to have known forms part of the proceeds of your unlawful act and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 15(2) (d) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act 2011 (As Amended) and punishable under Section 15 (3) of the same Act”.
The defendant however, pleaded not guilty to the charge.
In view of his plea, counsel to the EFCC, Sanusi Galadanchi, applied for a date for trial and urged the court to remand the defendant in prison custody.
However, the defense counsel, Olatunde Adeoye informed the court of a pending application praying the court to admit the defendant to bail. He also urged the court to allow the defendant remain in the EFCC’s custody pending the hearing of his bail application.
Justice Abdulmalik, however, ordered that the defendant be remanded in the Federal Prison, Agodi and adjourned to May 8, 2018 for hearing of the bail application.