A member of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) currently serving in Ogbomosho, Oyo State, Adetuberu Adetoyese, has been sentenced to two years’ imprisonment over internet fraud-related offenses by Justice Ibrahim Yusuf of the Kwara State High Court sitting in Ilorin.
The court, on Thursday, found 28-year-old Adetuberu guilty of the two counts of cybercrime preferred against him by the Ilorin Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
The court was informed that operatives of the EFCC, acting on intelligence about the activities of fraudsters, also known as “Yahoo-Yahoo,” within the Ilorin metropolis and its environs, recently arrested Adetuberu at Ogele, a suburb of Ilorin, on Wednesday.
The convict hailed from Ilesa in Ilesa West Local Government Area of Osun State, the court heard.
The EFCC Counsel, Sesan Ola, also revealed in court that the convict had, during the investigation, admitted to having ventured into ‘Yahoo Yahoo Business’ in 2016 and had, among other things, built a house with the proceeds of the illegal activities.
Adetuberu pleaded guilty to the two charges preferred against him when he was brought before the court on Thursday.
Consequently, Justice Yusuf, while sentencing Adetuberu, ordered the forfeiture of a three-bedroom flat acquired with the proceeds of the illegal activities, a Lexus car, different brands of phones, and a laptop, which are instruments of the crime, as well as the sum of N921,535.49 in his bank account to the Federal Government.
The judge, who gave the convict an option of a fine of N200,000, said his conviction would serve as a deterrent to others.
In a related development, Justice Yusuf also sentenced a 30-year-old aluminium fabricator, Olayiwola Saheed, who acted as a “loader” to co-fraudsters, to six months of custodial imprisonment at the Federal Correctional Centre in Ilorin, without the option of a fine.
Olayiwola, who hailed from Olorunda Local Government Area in Osogbo, Osun State, was found guilty of one count of possessing funds that he knew to be proceeds of unlawful activities preferred against him by the anti-graft agency.
In his judgement, the judge said that he found merit in the prosecution’s case, adding that the defendant’s admission of guilt was enough evidence to convict him.
Justice Yusuf, while sentencing Olayiwola, ordered that the Toyota Camry car recovered at the point of his arrest, his phone, and a laptop, which were used as instruments of his illegal activities, be forfeited to the Federal Government.
