The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has secured the conviction and imprisonment of a fake United States soldier, Chukwuema Samuel Andrew.

Andrew was arraigned on two-count charges bordering on advance fee fraud contrary to Section 1(1) (a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006 and punishable under Section 1(3) of the same Act.

Count one of the charges read: “That you, Chukwuema Samuel Andrew (a.k.a Mary Parlier) sometime in April 2021 in Port Harcourt, Rivers State within the jurisdiction of this honourable court with intent to defraud, did obtain the sum of $5,300 under the pretext of being Mary Parlier, a female soldier serving in Yemen as a computer operator, a pretext which to your knowledge was false and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 1(1) (a) of the Advance Fee and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006 and punishable under Section 1(3) of the same Act.”

He pleaded guilty when the charges were read to him, prompting prosecution counsel, B. O. Agala, to pray the court to convict and sentence him accordingly.

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The defence counsel, P. U. Ogbuehi, prayed the judge to temper justice with mercy, saying his client was a first-time offender with no previous criminal records.

The presiding judge, Justice Ajoku, however, convicted and sentenced Andrew to 30 months imprisonment.

Besides his prison term, he forfeited his Redmi mobile phone and iPhone 12 Pro to the federal government and deposed to an affidavit of good behaviour before the court.

The EFCC, in a statement issued by its spokesman, Dele Oyewale, on Friday, February 2, 2024, disclosed that the convict was arrested by the EFCC operatives for internet fraud at Golf Estate in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, in June 2023.

“His profiling revealed that he became involved in different shades of cybercrime, including dating and romance scam in 2021,” Oyewale noted.

He added that the $5,300 proceeds of crime Andrew earned were sent to him as iTunes cards, steam cards, and Bitcoins through his vendor who converted them to naira values via his bank accounts.

The Star