Operatives of the Benin Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC) on Tuesday, November 5, 2024 arrested 21 suspected internet fraudsters at different locations in Benin City.
The suspects were arrested based on actionable intelligence on their alleged involvement in internet related fraud.
This is according to a statement made available by the anti-graft agency on its verified social media platforms.
Items recovered from them include 10 exotic cars, laptops and phones.
The EFCC added that the suspects will be charged to court as soon as investigations are concluded.
Meanwhile, Justice Fadimatu Aminu of the Federal High Court, Damaturu has convicted and sentenced the duo of Haruna Ahmadu and Kabiru Iliyasu to separate jail terms for operating Bureau de change (BDC) businesses without an appropriate licence.
The defendants were first arraigned on Tuesday, March 12, 2024, by the Maiduguri Zonal Directorate of the EFCC on a one-count separate charge.
The lone charge against Haruna reads: “That you, Ahmadu Haruna, between the month of June 2023 and 2024 in Damaturu, Yobe State, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did carry on other financial businesses, to wit, bureau de change business without a license issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria contrary to Sections 57 and 59(5) of the Bank and other Financial Institutions Act, 2020.”
The defendants pleaded “not guilty” to the charges raised against them by the EFCC when they were read to them.
As the trial progressed, Iliyasu changed his plea and pleaded guilty to the one-count charge prepared against him. Ahmadu did not plead guilty until his trial was concluded.
While counsel to the prosecution, Mukhtar Ali Ahmad, thereafter, prayed to the court to convict him accordingly iliyasu owing to his change of plea.
Justice Aminu, thereafter, in a separate judgment, convicted and sentenced the convicts thus: four years imprisonment for Iliyasu with an option of fine of N500,000 and two years imprisonment with for Ahmadu with an option of N100,000.
The convicts bagged their imprisonment when they were arrested for operating bureau de change businesses without requisite licences.
They were charged to court and convicted.
