Justice Rahman Oshodi of a Special Offences Court, Ikeja, yesterday, sentenced a 22-year-old tailor, Kabiru Okeshola to one-year imprisonment for representing himself as a white woman and engaging in Internet dating scam.

The judge sentenced Okeshola to one-year imprisonment after he pleaded guilty to the charge brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Oshodi held that he was satisfied that the confessional statement of the defendant established that he was engaged in fraudulent activities.

“Contrary to Section 320 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State, 2015, I have convicted you of possessing fraudulent documents through which you have benefitted $3,000.

“You claimed to have used the money to pay the hospital bill of your father, who is now late. You said you are now a tailor and have turned a new leaf and I believe you.”

Justice Oshodi however sentenced him to one-year imprisonment or pay a fine of N100, 000. He also ordered that the convict’s iPhone 13 Pro and the N300, 000 bail which he restituted to the EFCC, be forfeited to the federal government of Nigeria.

The judge therefore ordered that the convict be handed over to the correctional officers, pending the payment of the fine.

Earlier in the proceeding while reviewing the facts of the case, the operative of the EFCC, Mr Usman Ahmed, told the court that the convict and 15 others were arrested sometime in September in Ikorodu.

He noted that the convict confessed to have represented himself on social media to be a white woman from America in search of love and companionship. He added: “the defendant had restituted a sum of N300, 000 in favour of EFCC recovery fund account. An IPhone 13 Pro through which bundles of fraudulent documents were printed was also recovered from him.”

The court thereafter admitted all the documents into evidence, but following no objections from the defence counsel, Mr. Jamal Bashir, convicted and sentenced Okeshola.