Two Nigerians impersonating US soldiers jailed for love scam in Kwara

Justice Mohamed Sani of the Federal High Court sitting in Ilorin, Kwara State, has sentenced two men, Sunday Akinrodolu and Tobi George, who were posing as military officers in the United States of America, to various jail terms for offences bordering on love scam and Internet fraud.

Akinrodolu and George were jailed alongside one Victor Oluwajobi after being arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

A statement released by the spokesperson of the antigraft agency, Wilson Uwujaren, said the convicts were among the 34 suspected Internet fraudsters arrested in different locations in Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State, on March 8, 2021.

While Akinrodolu and George were posing to be US military officers to lure unsuspecting victims into online relationships, Oluwajobi was charged with attempt to defraud people seeking accommodation in the US.

The defendants pleaded guilty when the charges were read to them.

Items recovered from them, including a Toyota Corolla car, iPhones, iPad, and incriminating messages printed from their devices, were tendered by Aliyu Adebayo and Rasheedat Alao, who prosecuted the cases for the EFCC.

In his judgment on Monday, Justice Sanni sentenced Akinrodolu to six months’ imprisonment each on counts one and two, with a fine option of N300,000 on each count.

The court also ordered the forfeiture of his iPhone 7 and Infinix phone, which he used to perpetrate the crime, as well as the Toyota Corolla car acquired with the proceeds of his unlawful activities.

Similarly, George was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment with a fine option of N300,000.

The iPhone 6s recovered from him was also forfeited to the Federal Government.