A 21 year-old Jatto Umar, who claimed to be the founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, in order to defraud unsuspecting victims via online relationship was on Thursday convicted and sentenced to jail by a Kwara State High Court, sitting in Ilorin over offences bordering on impersonation and cybercrime.
The Ilorin Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) also secured the conviction of four other persons over similar offences.
They are Oguntoyinbo Damilola; Taiwo Kayode, Adebayo Mark, Adedoyin Olayinka and YusufAbiodun, who claimed to be US military officers.
While the quartet of Jatto, Damilola, Taiwo and Mark were prosecuted before Justice Mahmud Abdulgafar, Justice Adenike Akinpelu, both of the Kwara State High Court sitting in Ilorin, heard the case of Olayinka and Abiodun.
The defendants pleaded guilty to their separate charges.
Innocent Mbachie represented the EFCC in the cases before Justice Abdulgafar, while R. E Alao prosecuted for the commission in the cases before Justice Akinpelu.
The two counsels urged the courts to take notice of the confessional statements and the guilty plea entered by the defendants as well as the evidences tendered against them, which included the devices used in perpetrating the crime, to convict and sentence the defendants as charged.
Justice Abdulgafar sentenced Jatto to suspended six months imprisonment each on count one and two, to run concurrently at Mandala Correctional Centre.
The judge gave Damilola a suspended sentence of six months imprisonment on count one and two, to run concurrently.
While Justice Abdulgafar also sentenced Taiwo to a suspended term of six months imprisonment.
Similar sentence was imposed on Mark as the court sentenced him to a term of suspended six months imprisonment.
On the other hand, Justice Akinpelu sentenced Olayinka to six months imprisonment each on count one and two, to run concurrently with option of fine of N200,000 on each count.
In the same vein, the judge sentenced Abiodun to six months imprisonment with an option of fine of N200,000.
