Justice Mojisola Dada of the Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos, on Wednesday, May 3, 2023, convicted and sentenced one Ume Ifechukwu Clinton, who defrauded a Belgian educator and caregiver, Axelle Mahieu, of the sum of €45,000 (Forty-five Thousand Euros) in a well-orchestrated Internet fraud, to one year imprisonment.
Clinton, 30, was arraigned on February 22, 2023 on an amended three-count charge bordering on possession of fraudulent documents and impersonation.
However, overwhelmed by the weight of the evidence gathered against him, Clinton had approached the prosecution for a plea bargain, thereby necessitating the need for the amended charge.
One of the amended counts reads:
“That you, Ifechukwu Clinton Ume, on the 18th of October 2022, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, had in your possession a document containing false pretence: “Economic Financial and Crimes Commission (EFCC) Identification Card with EFCC logo, your picture, your name and with a staff number 1069″, used to defraud Mahieu Axelle of cryptocurrency worth 45,000 Euros, which document you knew to be false.â€