An Ogudu Magistrates’ Court in Lagos on Wednesday sentenced a 21-year-old man, Odion Okunsebor, to a two-year jail term over internet fraud.

Okunsebor was convicted after the court found him guilty of defrauding several victims by false representation and stealing to the tune of over N770,000.

He was charged before the Magistrate, O.A. Dadodu, on a six-count charge bordering on conspiracy, impersonation, obtaining by false pretence, and stealing.

The defendant had first pleaded not guilty to the charge on his arraignment but eventually changed his plea to guilty.

The prosecutor, Inspector Sunday Bassey, told the court that the defendant and others at large, committed the offence between February 2024 and April (this year)

He told the court that they conspired to clone the Instagram page of one Gossip Mill Nigeria, a popular social media platform owned by one Monann Somto.

They were said to have cloned the page, with intent to defraud unsuspecting members of the public.

Mr Bassey said that the defendant presented himself as the Chief Executive Officer of Gossip Mill Nigeria and used the fake account to deceive victims to send money into various bank accounts.

The prosecution said that some of the victims included: Jafaru Abass, owner of African Box Jewellers, who lost N220,000; Oguntula Elizabeth, who lost N150,000; and Gabriel Kyel who lost N400,000.

The offences contravene the provisions of sections 287, 314, 380(1), and 411 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.

In its verdict, the court found the defendant guilty on counts of stealing and impersonation.

The court sentenced him to one-year imprisonment for stealing and two years’ imprisonment for impersonation.

She ordered the sentences to run concurrently, meaning that the convict will spend a total of two years in prison.

The magistrate further noted that impersonation and online fraud had become rampant and warned youths to desist from using social media to commit crimes.

The case was investigated by Corporal Kolawole Ayoola of the Command Tactical Squad in Isheri-Magodo, Lagos.

(NAN)