A Federal High Court in Lagos on Thursday sentenced a charcoal dealer, Taiyelolu Akeem, to three years’ imprisonment for obtaining N21 million under false pretences.
The Vacation Judge, Justice Nicholas Oweibo, handed down the sentence without an option of fine after
Akeem had pleaded guilty to a three-count charge bordering on fraud.
Akeem, who was arraigned on Sept. 3, by the Police Special Fraud Unit(PSFU) from Lagos, had pleaded guilty.
The judge, however, adjourned the case for a review of the facts and sentencing.
At the resumed hearing on Thursday, the Prosecution Counsel, Mr Daniel Apochi, who reviewed the facts, said that Akeem and others currently at large, committed the offences from February to October 2019 in Lagos.
He said that Akeem through his firm, Tkashy Multi Service, fraudulently obtained N21 million from one Mr Solomon George, on the pretext of supplying him 20 containers of charcoal.
He said that Akeem failed to supply the charcoal, but converted the money to personal use.
The prosecutor said that the offences contravened Section 1(3)(a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006, and Section 15(2)(b) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011, as amended in 2012.
