Fake American Army General bags 10 years sentence over facebook fraud

A fake United States of America (USA) Army General, Murtala Abdullateef,  has been jailed ten years by the Sokoto State High Court sitting in Sokoto on Monday having being found guilty of facebook fraud

Penpushing reports that, the convict was arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission(EFCC) for  hacking into Facebook accounts of several European women with intent to defraud them of their hard-earned monies

“That you Murtala Abdullateef sometime in May, 2021 in Sokoto, within the Judicial Division of the High Court of Justice of Sokoto State, dishonestly hacked into Facebook accounts of several European women with intent to defraud them of their hard-earned monies wherein you represented yourself to them as a General in the U. S Army on a peace-keeping mission in Syria and you thereby attempted to commit the offence of cheating contrary to Section 58 of the Sokoto State Penal Code Law 2019 and punishable under Section 311 of the same Law”., the charges read

Penpushing reports that the convict was said to have presented himself as a General in the United States Army serving in war-torn Syria, and had pleaded guilty to the charge when he was arraigned before the court

The Head, Media and Publicity of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Wilson Uwujaren, in a statement added that following the defendant’s guilty plea, the commission’s prosecuting counsel, Habila Jonathan, asked the court to convict and sentence him accordingly

“However, the defence counsel, Shamsu Dauda, pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy on the grounds that his client is a first time offender who had become remorseful’, Uwujaren said

Penpushing also reports that, the commission spokesman said Justice Malami Dogondaji, thereafter convicted and sentenced Abdullateef to ten ( years in prison but was given an option of N200,000 .

The agency Head of Media said  Abdullateef  journey to prison started  when he was arrested along with six other suspects on May 25, 2021 at Badariya in Birnin Kebbi metropolis by operatives of the State Security Services, for suspected involvement in internet fraud.

Meanwhile, Media and Publicity of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), said the other six suspects have been prosecuted and convicted on a separate charge

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