One Richard Uomo Endurance, a musician, has been jailed for six months over his involvement in an internet love scam.
The 30-year-old was convicted and sentenced by a Lagos State Ikeja Special Offences Court on Monday.
The presiding judge, Justice Ramon Oshodi, convicted the defendant, Endurance, following his plea of guilt after he was docked on a lone count charge of possession of fraudulent documents.
The defendant who claims to be a musician was charged before the court after his arrest in December by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The defendant pleaded guilty to the lone charge preferred against him before the court bordering on possession of fraudulent documents. He agreed to the fact that he opted to plead guilty to the charge in a plea bargain arrangement.
Prosecuting counsel, Ayanfe Adeahina, informed the court that the anti-graft agency received an anonymous complaint the defendant and others were living large without any legitimate means of livelihood.
He said surveillance was carried out to confirm and verify the complainant.
“Based on that a raid was conducted and the defendant and others were arrested by the EFCC around Lekki Palm Estate, Ajah, Lagos,” he said.
The prosecutor added that upon his arrest, he was found with an IPhone 11 Pro Max and one HP laptop; his email and phones were analysed and several documents were found.
Further investigation revealed that he has several emails containing romance scams one of which he falsely represented himself to be Jack Selver, a white male from a dating site. The defendant was interviewed and he made a voluntary statement where he confirmed engaging in a dating scam for which he has in his procession various documents which are false.
“Subsequently he was charged to court but he approached the commission through his counsel,” he said.
He, however, prayed the court to convict the defendant accordingly.
While sentencing the defendant, the judge said the defendant is very much aware of the nature of the amended charge presented before the court.
“He admitted and plead guilty, thereby entering into the guilty plea voluntarily. Following your guilty plea and admission of the crime, I hereby convict you Richard Endurance Utomo. I have listened to your plea for leniency, I am convinced that you are a first-time offender who has not benefited from the proceeds of the fraud. I see that you are generally repentant. I do agree that a minimum sentence should be applied.
