By Kayode Adeoti
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ilorin Zonal Office last Friday, secured the conviction of Hammed Lanre, a Civil Engineer, who defrauded his friend of N450.
He was convicted by a Kwara State High Court presided over by Justice Mahmud AbdulGafar for offence bordering on stealing.
He was said to have illegally withdrawn the sum of N450,000 using the phone of his friend who had offered the phone to him to access Facebook.
While using the phone, Lanre had accessed his friend’s PIN which he later used to withdraw the money.
Following the investigation by the operatives the EFCC, Lanre, was arrested in Lagos.
He was first arraigned on July 8, 2019 on a two-count charge to which he pleaded “not guilty”.
Realising the strength of the evidence gathered against him, he approached the EFCC for a plea bargain, a development that led to his re-arraignment on an amended charge to which he pleaded “guilty”.
The amended charge reads: “That you, Hammed Folorunsho Lanre, sometimes around 29th, May 2019, at Ilorin, within the judicial division of the High Court, committed theft by taking dishonestly, money belonging to Hammed Muritala when you transferred the gross sum of N450,000 via his mobile phone, from Stanbic IBTC into your bet9ja pay stack website account without his consent and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 286 of the Penal Code Law and punishable under Section 287 of the Penal Code Law.”
Thereafter, Justice Abdulgafar sentenced him to one year imprisonment which is to commence from May 30, 2019, the day he was arrested.
