In a significant legal development, Justices A. Isiaka and A.A Bello of the Kaduna State High Court, situated in Kaduna, have pronounced verdicts on Bilbert Sabo, Joy Righteous, Godwill Dikko, and Ransom Joash Destiny, convicting them on various counts of internet fraud. The quartet, apprehended and arraigned by the Kaduna Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), faced separate one-count charges related to their involvement in online fraudulent activities.
Bilbert Sabo, operating under the alias “Amelia Karim,” was charged with impersonating a United States citizen, Amelia Karim, on Facebook with the intent to defraud unsuspecting foreigners. Sabo pleaded guilty to the charge, leading to Justice A. Isiaka imposing a two-year prison sentence or a fine of N150,000.00. In addition to the prison term, Sabo forfeited the tool of his crime, an iPhone 11, to the Federal government.
Joy Righteous, who also pleaded guilty to her one-count charge, was convicted by Justice Isiaka and sentenced to two years imprisonment, with an alternative fine of N150,000.00. Similar to Sabo, Righteous forfeited the instrument of her crime, an Infinix S5 Pro phone, to the Federal government.
Meanwhile, Godwill Dikko and Ransom Joash Destiny were arraigned before Justice A.A Bello, who convicted and sentenced them both to two years imprisonment or a fine of N150,000.00 for cheating by impersonation.
The charges against the convicts stemmed from their deceptive practices on social media platforms, where they posed as foreign individuals to defraud unsuspecting victims. Bilbert Sabo, presenting himself as Ameila Karim, a US citizen from Ogden, Utah, utilized Facebook to promote a fraudulent Bitcoin business and non-existent sports equipment. Joy Righteous assumed two false identities to deceive victims and commit fraud. Godwill Dikko, posing as Chome Chai, a Thailand citizen, employed Facebook to advertise a deceptive clothing business, while Ransom Joash Destiny, adopting the identity of American citizen William Justice on Facebook and Instagram, successfully defrauded a US citizen, Mrs. Valerie Harvey, of $250 in a love scam.
All four convicts have been remanded to the Correctional Centre, marking the culmination of their legal journey initiated by the EFCC’s diligent investigation into their impersonation and fraudulent activities.
