The Abuja Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has obtained convictions in two separate cases related to personation. On July 5, 2023, Canice Agabi was convicted by Justice A.Y. Shafa of the FCT High Court in Gwagwalada-Abuja, while the same judge convicted Nwozor Martins.
In Agabi’s case, he presented himself as an American citizen under the username ‘Randy Sylvester’ on Instagram. He deceived Anne Fuscelaro, a United States citizen, into believing he operated a cryptocurrency company called Prime Cash Investment. Agabi fraudulently obtained $1,000 from Fuscelaro by promising high returns on investment in Bitcoin. The offence committed by Agabi is in violation of Section 321 of the Penal Code Act, Laws of the Federation (Abuja) 1990, and punishable under Section 324 of the same Act. Agabi pleaded guilty to the charge.
Consequently, Justice Shafa convicted and sentenced Agabi to three months imprisonment or a fine of N200,000. Agabi had already returned $200 and was further ordered to pay N623,000 in restitution to the Federation Account. Additionally, the judge ordered the burning of Agabi’s Samsung Note 10 mobile phone, which was used to commission the crime.
In Nwozor Martins’ case, he falsely represented himself as Camela Onyinye, the Chief Executive of Binary Trade Investment, on Facebook and WhatsApp. He substituted his own picture with Onyinye’s and received N570,000 from Bashir Bello and others through his Access Bank account. Martins was charged with an offence contrary to Section 321 of the Penal Code Act, Cap 532 Laws of the Federation (Abuja) 1990, and punishable under Section 324 of the same Law.
Nwozor Martins was sentenced to three months imprisonment or a fine of N200,000. He had already refunded N200,000 as restitution and was ordered to pay the remaining balance of N370,000 to the Federation account. Furthermore, his iPhone and Tecno phones were ordered to be burnt on the court premises.
These convictions highlight the EFCC’s commitment to combating personation and fraudulent activities in Nigeria, and they serve as a deterrent to potential offenders.
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