$700 Scam: Court remands suspects in prison
By Chimezie Godfrey
Justice S. I. Mark of the Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State has ordered the remand of an internet fraud suspect, Nwosu Gospel Light, in the Port Harcourt Correctional Centre, pending the determination of his bail application.
The Commission’s Head of Media and Publicity, Wilson Uwujaren in a statement revealed that Light on Wednesday July 20, 2022 pleaded not guilty to a two count charge impersonation and obtaining money by false pretense brought against him by the Port Harcourt Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
One of the counts reads: “That you, Nwosu Gospel Light on or about 15th of January, 2022 at Port Harcourt, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court with intent to defraud, did obtain the sum of Seven Hundred Dollars ($700USD ) only from one Doren, a Netherland Citizen, under the false pretense that you are investing in Crypto Currency business for him, a pretext you knew to be false and thereby committed an offense contrary to Section 1 (1) (a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006 and punishable under Section 1 (3) of the same Act”.
He however pleaded “not guilty” to the charges.
In view of his plea, prosecution counsel, E. K. Ebipade, prayed the court to remand the defendant and fix a date for the commencement of trial.
Justice Mark ordered that the defendant be remanded in the Correctional Centre and adjourned the case till October 10, 2022 for consideration of the bail application and commencement of trial.
Trouble started for Light sometime in April 2022, when the Commission received an intelligence report about the activities of some internet fraudsters operating within Port Harcourt Metropolis.
The defendant was apprehended on the 1st of June, 2022 at Ada George, Port Harcourt, Rivers State for alleged involvement in series of love scams and using Gmail accounts to defraud unsuspecting victims.
Investigation further revealed that the defendant deceived his victims into believing that he is into Bitcoin trading and defrauded one Doren, a Netherland Citizen of the sum of Seven Hundred United States Dollars ($700).
