By Romanus Okoye
Justice Mojisola Dada of the Special Offences Court section of Lagos State High Court, Ikeja, has sentenced an internet fraudster, popularly called Yahoo boy, Sodiq Adewale, to a year imprisonment for $87,300 USD fraud.
The convict was re-arraigned before the court for being in possession of forged documents, which he used to defraud his victims  by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The EFCC prosecutor, Fadekemi Giwa, told the court that the convict, approached the commission for a plea bargain agreement. The  prosecutor told the court that following the convict’s decision, the charge against him was amended and a plea bargain agreement was signed.
Following prosecutor’s submission, Justice Dada ordered that the amended charge be read to the convict for his plea to be taken. And upon the reading of the charge, the convict pleaded guilty.
The charge against the Convict reads: “Sodiq Adewale, on or about the 25th day of January, 2021, Lagos, within the Jurisdiction of this Honourable court, had in you possession a document titled Official Check No. 029356348 valued $87,300 containing false pretences which you knew to be false and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 320 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State”.
Following his not guilty plea, his counsel, Ademola Adefolaju, pleaded with the court to be lenient in sentencing his client, put into consideration that he is a first time offender and he did not waste precious time of the court. Adding that his client has promised not to engage in any fraudulent act.
He also urged the court to give his client option of fine in lieu of custodian sentence.
Following Adefolaju’s submission, Justice Dada sentenced the Convict to a three-year imprisonment. The judge however gave an option of N3 million in lieu of the jail-term.