A University of Calabar undergraduate Peter Ayigi Againpriye has been sentenced to three years imprisonment for impersonation, obtaining money by false pretense, and possession of fraudulent documents.
Againpriye‘s sentence was announced on the Twitter handle of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Justice E. A. Obile of the Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, pass the judgment.
Againpriye was convicted on Monday, July 17, 2023, after pleading guilty to a three-count charge brought against him by the Port Harcourt Zonal Command of the EFCC.
In view of the guilty plea by the defendant, prosecution counsel, E. K. Ebipade called a witness and tendered documents to prove the case.
Items tendered include: iPhone 12 Pro Max, iPhone XR, Statement of the defendant, consent to search devices form, certificate of compliance and scam documents printed from the defendant’s Instagram account. All tendered documents were accepted by the court and marked as exhibits 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 respectively.
ASE 1, Albert Kukah, an operative of the Commission, while being led in evidence, told the court that the defendant was arrested sometime in June 2023, in an operation tagged, Eagle Sweep, at Golf Estate, Port Harcourt, Rivers State for alleged internet fraud activities.
He disclosed that the investigation revealed that the defendant is involved in internet fraud and opened several Gmail, Instagram and Facebook accounts, and falsely presented himself as Diana Wilson in chats with Keess Van Darr, with whom he defrauded the sum of €3,000 Euros.
Relying on the documents tendered and the testimony of PW 1, the prosecution prayed the court to convict and sentence the defendant as charged.
Counsel to the defendant, B. J. Jeoffrey did not oppose the prayers by the prosecution but urged the court to temper justice with mercy.
Justice Obile convicted and sentenced the defendant to one year in prison with N50, 000 as the option of fine on each of the counts.
The Judge further ordered that the iPhone 12 Pro Max and iPhone XR recovered from the convict be forfeited to the government.
