The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, have successfully secured a three-year jail term for two online scammers, otherwise known as yahoo boys, for stealing $750,000 and N120m from KLM, British Airways, and Turkish Airlines.
The sentences were summarily handed over to the yahoo boys whose names were given as Tobiloba Ibrahim Bakare and Seun Sikiru Alimi, by the Ikeja Special Offences Court.
Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo convicted and jailed the duo after they entered into a plea bargain agreement with the EFCC. They pleaded guilty to the seven-count charge filed against them.
According to a statement posted on the EFCC’s website, the yahoo boys laundered the stolen funds through First Bank of Nigeria, Sterling Bank, and Polaris Bank.
During the trial, the EFCC counsel, Mr. Idris Mohammed, told the court that the offences contravened Sections 411 and 328(1) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015, and punishable under Section 328 of the law.
While reviewing the facts of the case, the counsel said that the anti-graft agency had on Sept. 2, 2020, received intelligence about suspicious transactions and money laundering which led to an investigation by the Advance Fee Fraud Section of the commission.
Mohammed said that the investigation led to the arrest of one Kehinde Adelakun, who was convicted by the court in October 2020.
The prosecutor told the court that Sikiru’s name and his company, Alvine First Resources Ventures, came up during the investigation of Adelakun, adding that Sikiru operated corporate accounts with First Bank and Sterling Bank.
“Upon analysis of the two accounts belonging to the second defendant, several inflows were discovered from different companies between March and July 2020.
“They were reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities.
“Further analysis of the accounts showed that there was a balance of N196.7 million and N9.3 million retained in the Sterling Bank and Polaris Bank accounts of Sikiru.
“The second defendant, when confronted, admitted that the majority of the funds received in his accounts were from the first defendant (Bakare),” the prosecution counsel submitted,” the statement said.
The counsel added that during interrogation, Bakare admitted that from 2009 to 2020, he was into business email compromise fraud.
“Bakare said he hacked into the emails of KLM, Turkish Airlines and British Airways, and in the course of perpetrating the said fraud, benefitted the total sum of $750,000.
” The second defendant benefitted the sum of N120 million through his conspirator, Dayo Bamgbose, who resided in Texas, USA, but is now deceased.”
Mohammed said that Bakare spent his loot on acquiring property, and retained the remaining sum in Sikiru’s account.
Following the yahoo boys’ guilty plea and the review of facts of the case by the prosecutor, the judge sentenced them to three years’ imprisonment each.
The judge also ordered that the convicts should forfeit N205 million and other property to the Federal Government.
“The property to be forfeited are Mercedes Benz E500, Toyota Hilux 2020 model, five-bedroom duplex on Ibrahim Beto Street, Osapa London, Lekki, Lagos State, and a four-bedroom semi-detached duplex at Ologolo Jakande, Lekki.
“To be also forfeited is a four-bedroom semi-detached duplex on the Southern View Estate, Mayor Court, Chevron Alternative Road, Lekki, Lagos,” the judge held.
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