Nigerian Court Sentences Crypto Fraudster to One Year in Jail, Accused Given Option to Pay Fine – According to a report, a Nigerian court has convicted a man accused of defrauding an unsuspecting investor of $680 by utilizing a bogus cryptocurrency platform.
In its ruling, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Port Harcourt Zonal Command said that the man, Obu Ebibo, alias Kenneth Gibson, shall serve one year in jail.
The accused, however, has the option of paying a fine of $1,180 (N500,000), which he can deposit into the government’s consolidated revenue account, according to the court. According to a PM News report detailing the accused’s alleged offences, Ebibo broke Nigeria’s anti-fraud laws by committing the alleged charges.
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It details: “That you, Obu Gabriel Ebibo (alias Kenneth Gibson), on or about November 1, 2021, in Port Harcourt, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, with intent to defraud obtained an aggregate sum of $680.00 USD on the pretext that the money was meant for cryptocurrency investment, a pretext you knew to be false, and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 1 (2) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud-Related Act, and thus committed an offence contrary.”
The prosecution counsel, only identified as F.O. Amama, is said to have requested that the court sentence Ebibo accordingly, based on his guilty plea. Ebibo’s lawyer, on the other hand, contended that because his client had admitted the charges against him, the court should treat him with kindness because he was a first-time offender.
The judge reportedly ordered that the offender’s mobile device be seized by the state as part of his sentence.
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