Henry Nathaniel Ekanem, a final-year student at the University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, has been sentenced to 14 years in prison for his involvement in internet fraud.
Justice A.T. Mohammed of the Federal High Court in Port Harcourt delivered the judgment on Wednesday, following Ekanem’s arraignment by the Port Harcourt Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on seven counts of obtaining money under false pretenses and impersonation.
According to one of the charges, Ekanem, on or about September 17, 2024, in Choba, Port Harcourt, fraudulently posed as Coran Capsha, manager of the musician Chris Stapleton, to deceive Diana Roskov and obtain $22 from her. This act was a violation of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud-Related Offences Act of 2006.
When the charges were read in court, Ekanem entered a guilty plea. In response, EFCC counsel A. Abubakar presented witnesses and evidence, urging the court to convict him accordingly. Ekanem’s lawyer, F.T. Fred-Boufini, did not challenge the prosecution’s request but pleaded for leniency, highlighting that he was a first-time offender with no prior criminal record.
Justice Mohammed subsequently sentenced Ekanem to two years for each of the seven charges, with an option to pay a fine of N200,000 per count to the Federal Government’s Consolidated Revenue Account. Additionally, the court ordered that all phones recovered from Ekanem, identified as proceeds of crime, be forfeited to the government. He must also swear an affidavit of good behavior.
Ekanem’s arrest occurred in September 2024 in Choba, Port Harcourt, where EFCC operatives apprehended him for fraud-related activities. EFCC Head of Media & Publicity, Dele Oyewale, stated that Ekanem defrauded multiple victims, including Roskov, by falsely portraying himself as Capsha through WhatsApp and Instagram.
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