KWASU Student Sentenced To 3 Years In Prison For Posing As American Widow In Ilorin

Aderibigbe Sheu, a student of Kwara State University (KWASU) Malete, has been sentenced to three years imprisonment by Justice Muhammed Sani of the Federal High Court in Ilorin.

Aderibigbe Sheu Olamilekan

The student, who is a native of Oshogbo, Osun state, was one of the 30 suspected internet fraudsters arrested in Malete, Moro LGA of Kwara on September 19, 2021.

They were arrested during a sting operation by operatives of the Ilorin Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Sheu was charged with one count of cybercrime and retention of proceeds of crime after he was accused of posing as a widow resident in the United States to defraud unsuspecting victims.

Upon arraignment on Wednesday, June 1, the defendant pleaded guilty to the charge before Justice Muhammed Sani of the Federal High Court sitting in Ilorin.

Following his guilty plea, Rasheedat Alao, counsel to the EFCC, reviewed the facts of the case and tendered the extra-judicial statements of the defendant.

This included the phone, laptop, and other incriminating materials printed from his devices, which were admitted in evidence.

She urged the court to consider the plea of the defendant, his extra-judicial statements, and all the exhibits tendered to convict him as charged.

In his judgment, Sani pronounced Sheu guilty of the charge and sentenced him to three years imprisonment with the option of a fine in the sum of N982,403.

The court also ordered that the iPhone 7+ and laptop, which were used to perpetrate the crime be forfeited to the federal government.

KanyiDaily had also reported how a final-year student of the Institute of Management Technology in Enugu, Okoro Joseph, was sentenced to eight months imprisonment for defrauding an American woman of  $15,000.