A Dei-dei Grade 1 Area Court, Shagari Quarters, Abuja, on Thursday, sentenced a 30-year-old businessman, Chukwudi Njoku, to nine months imprisonment for defrauding a POS operator of N170,000.
The convict pleaded guilty and asked the court to temper justice with mercy.
In his ruling, the Judge, Sulyman Ola sentenced Njoku, after he pleaded guilty to the offence and begged the court for leniency.
The Judge, however, gave the convict an option to pay N40, 000 as fine and warned him to desist from committing crime in future.
Sulyman also ordered the convict to pay the complainant, Sandra Nnaji, N170, 000 as compensation, which the prosecutor had requested for.
Earlier, the prosecution counsel, Mr Olaonipekun Babajide told the court that, the convict who resides at Duste Alhaji, Abuja, was arraigned on a two-count charge bordering on criminal breach of trust and cheating.
Babajide said that, Nnaji of Duste Alhaji, Abuja, reported the case at Duste Alhaji Police station on March.7, at about 11p.m.
The prosecution counsel informed the court that, on the same date, the convict visited the shop of the complainant at Duste Alhaji Market, under the pretence of patronising her services.
Babajide said that Njoku demanded a cash sum of N200, 000, from the complainant, but collected N170, 000 which was the available cash and promised to transfer to her account.
He said the convict told the complainant that the transfer of the money including her charges was successful; however, Nnaji later discovered that she was defrauded as no money dropped in her account.
The prosecution counsel said during police investigation, the convict admitted to the crime, adding that the offence contravened Sections 312 and 322 of the Penal Code Law.
