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Nigerian cyber crime gang leader jailed four years in U.S. for online romance scam

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NIGERIAN JAILED

 

A Nigerian, Afeez Adebara, was on Friday sentenced to four years’ imprisonment by a U.S. court “for managing a group of money launderers in an online Nigerian romance scam”.

The group, led by 36-year-old Adebara, an Oklahoma resident, was said to have defrauded multiple victims, including elderly individuals across the U.S., and caused losses of at least $2.5 million.

A statement by the U.S. Department of Justice disclosed on Friday that Mr Adebara was sentenced in Northern District of Oklahoma after he earlier pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering on November 3, 2020.

The Assistant Attorney General, Kenneth Polite Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Acting U.S. Attorney Clinton Johnson for the Northern District of Oklahoma, and Special Agent in Charge Melissa Godbold of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Oklahoma City Field Office, made the announcement.

They said the case was “a part of an ongoing national effort by the Department of Justice to address online fraud schemes, including those based out of Nigeria, that target U.S. citizens and residents”.

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Their statement, which cited court documents and testimony, said Mr Adebara and co-conspirators used multiple bank accounts opened under various aliases using fake passports and other fraudulent identification documents for their fraudulent scheme.

The perpetrators, between 2017 and November 2019, “knowingly concealed the proceeds of a romance scam operation by moving money between and among” the fraudulent bank accounts.

This was done “to obscure the source of the funds and the identities of the co-conspirators,” the statement added.

Mr Adebara was also said to have taken further steps to conceal the source of the funds.

He would take commission for himself, and direct the remainder of the funds back to the online romance scammers in Nigeria, the officials added.

Sometimes, the proceeds sent back to Nigeria could be “in the form of vehicles and vehicle parts”.

Mr Adebara coordinated with overseas co-conspirators who had assumed false identities on online dating websites and social media platforms to defraud victims.

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He provided his multiple fraudulent bank accounts and routing numbers to co-conspirators.

The co-conspirators told victims that they were U.S. residents working or travelling abroad.

As the online relationships continued, the overseas co-conspirators requested increasingly larger sums of money, with the claimed purpose that the funds were needed to complete business projects or for them to return to the United States.

The victims were directed by the co-conspirators to send funds to certain bank accounts, with assurance that the money would purportedly be allocated as needed.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)I’s Oklahoma City Field Office was said to have conducted the investigation with the assistance from the FBI’s San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York Field Offices.

The case was prosecuted by Attorneys Babasijibomi Moore of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Nassar of the Northern District of Oklahoma prosecuted the case.

 

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Young lady dies after friends pushed her into pot of boiling pepper in Delta

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A Nigerian man, identified as Israel Joe, has narrated how his friend, Roseline, died after she was pushed into a boiling pot of fresh pepper and tomatoes by her two female friends in Sapele, Delta State.

Joe stated that Roseline, a caterer, went on a trip with her friends to Sapele for a catering job where she tragically passed away on Saturday, April 13.

In a Facebook post on Friday, Joe said that before her untimely death, Roseline confided in him about two of her friends who were treating her coldly.

 

He urged the Nigeria Police to investigate and arrest the killers of Roseline, pointing out that no progress has been made in the case since her murder.

 

Joe’s post read, “She was pushed into a big boiling pot of fresh pepper and tomatoes by her friend on Saturday, 13th April. She battled for about two weeks with her roasted/boiled body and finally ḍíęɗ last week Friday 26th April.

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“Nobody in the neighborhood in Otokutu knew Roseline had been allegedly kíIIed by these same friends. She was buried with no one to bid her goodbye and with no single bųríaI poster to honour her. Just two days in the morgue, the mørtųarƴ attendants demanded she be carried away to be buried.

 

“She traveled with them for a catering job in Sapele where they were speaking their local language with this Yoruba girl, Rozzy, not understanding their conversation.

“All of a sudden, she landed in a very big pot of boiling fresh pepper and tomatoes where they even still delayed in rescuing her. She was later rushed to Sage Hospital by Estate in Warri, where they managed the situation, but my friend couldn’t make it.”

 

Joe said he was pained that those responsible for her death were still walking free.

He added, “What pains me is that these two girls are still walking and gallivanting everywhere like nothing happened. I hate intimidation and oppression, especially against non-indigenous persons. The police must smoke them out so they can face the law. Na God dey help who nor get helper.

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“We shall fight for Rozzy. You can not just be kíIIęɗ like a chicken and bųřried like an aŋímąl. Nobody deserves such a hørribIe dęąth. We never got to meet Rose, only chatting on Facebook due to endless busy schedules only to see you, at the most disgusting sight at Sage Hospital, hoping for your recovery, but dęąțĥ stole you Justice shall prevail, including if you would be exhumed.”

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Alleged abuse of office: EFCC files additional proof of evidence against Emefiele

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The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has filed an additional proof of evidence against Godwin Emefiele, the former governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Emefiele and his co-defendant, Henry Omoile, are facing trial on a 26-count charge before a Lagos high court.

 

The former CBN governor and Omoile pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

The commission had presented two witnesses to testify against Emefiele in the trial.

 

At the resumed hearing on Friday, Olalekan Ojo, counsel to Emefiele, was expected to continue the cross-examination of John Ikechukwu Ayoh, the second prosecution witness.

But Ojo told the court that he just received the additional proof of evidence from the EFCC which was filed on Thursday.

The counsel said he needed to study the additional proof of evidence to be able to cross-examine the prosecution witness.

 

He also accused Rotimi Oyedepo, EFCC counsel, of attempting to engage in “trial by ambush” at the expense of the defendants.

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“My lord, there is a need to adjourn this case. We were just served these huge documents by the EFCC in court,” Ojo said.

 

“The prosecution keeps dumping documents on us at every sitting. This is trial by ambush.”

On his part, Adeyinka Kotoye, counsel to the second defendant, said he was served the additional proof of evidence five minutes after arriving in court.

 

Kotoye accused the EFCC of not being diligent in the prosecution of the case and attempting to ambush the defence team.

In response, the EFCC counsel said it is unfair to describe the service of processes by the prosecution as “ambush by trial”.

 

Oyedepo said the additional proof of evidence served by the commission was some of the documents retrieved from the phone of John Adetona, a former aide to Emefiele, who was listed as a witness.

 

Oyedepo said the documents were served in preparation of the testimony to be given by Adetona before the court.

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He added that Adetona was not meant to appear before the court today or on May 9.

“The witness (Adetona) whose device the documents were printed from has not given evidence before the court,” Oyedepo said.

 

“In preparation for his testimony which is not coming up today or May 9, the prosecution rather waiting for the defense to formally place a demand for the hard copies, the prosecution team printed the documents out.

“How does that amount to prosecutorial unfairness?”

 

Oyedepo prayed that the court should order the defence team to complete the cross-examination of the second prosecution witness.

 

He added that the new documents do not affect the continuation of cross-examination of the witness.

 

However, Emefiele’s counsel disagreed, saying that he needs to study the new documents and that there might be new information to help the cross-examination.

 

In his ruling, Rahman Oshodi, the presiding judge, agreed with the defendants’ counsel and adjourned the matter to May 9.

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Police identify officer who shot man dead at Lagos petrol station

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The Lagos State Police Command says it has identified a police officer who shot a man dead at a petrol station in Obalende area of the state on Wednesday.

 

The Public Relations Officer of the Command, Benjamin Hundeyin, confirmed this in a post on his X handle on Tuesday.

He said that the officer whom he did not name is serving at Special Protection Unit (SPU), Base 17, Lion Building, Lagos. The PRO said investigation on the incident is still ongoing.

 

He wrote, “The person behind the shooting has been identified as a police officer serving at Special Protection Unit (SPU) Base 17, Lion Building, Lagos. Investigation is still ongoing and further findings will be made available.

 

“Meanwhile, the Lagos State Police Command is working with the family of the deceased to ensure that there is no miscarriage of justice.”

The person behind the shooting has been identified as a police officer serving at Special Protection Unit (SPU) Base 17, Lion Building, Lagos.

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Investigation is still ongoing and further findings will be made available. Meanwhile, the Lagos State Police Command is working with… https://t.co/apTMnaIbsm

— SP Benjamin Hundeyin (@BenHundeyin) May 2, 2024

 

The tragedy reportedly happened while motorists and residents in the area struggled to purchase fuel at petrol station belonging to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited.

The deceased alongside others who had been on a queue to purchase petrol was said to have resisted an attempt by the police officer to jump queue and buy fuel which resulted in ensuing fracas that led to the officer shooting the victim who eventually died.

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