Justice A.A Bello of the Kaduna State High Court has convicted and sentenced a fake US Army officer, Zulayman Haruna, to two years imprisonment.
He was jailed on Wednesday, November 30, 2023, after pleading guilty to one count of internet fraud when he was arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Kaduna Area Command.
The charges are as follows: “Zuleiman Haruna (aka Marie Guerrero. a Mariee Guerrero), between January and October 2023, in Kaduna, under the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, attempted to commit certain crimes and in such attempt committed certain acts in the commission of said crimes: namely, on Facebook (a social media application) on, to misrepresent to one Greg and several other unsuspecting victims that she is Marie Guerrero, a white female soldier, in order to deceive them, thereby committing an offense contrary to Section 57 of the Kaduna State Criminal Code Act, 2017, and punishable under Section 309 of the same Act. ”
In a statement on Friday, December 1, the commission said Haruna pleaded guilty to the charges and the prosecution counsel, E.K Garba, asked the court to convict him.
Judge Bello found him guilty and sentenced Haruna to two years in prison or a fine of 150,000 naira. He also forfeited the iPhone X, which was the instrument of the crime, to the federal government through the EFCC.
Similarly, Justice A. A. Isiaka of the Kaduna State High Court in Kaduna sentenced Didam Jesse to two years imprisonment.
He was arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Kaduna Zone Command and jailed after pleading guilty to one count of fraud by impersonation.
The charge reads: “Didam Jesse (aka Endurance Prince David). (Endurance Prince David), sometime in February 2023, in Kaduna under the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, under the false identity of Endurance Princess David on Facebook (an online social media platform). Defrauding Nazir HB of the sum of N7,000, thereby committing an offence contrary to Section 308 of the 2017 Kaduna State Penal Code and punishable under Section 309 of the same Act.”
He pleaded guilty to the charges and the prosecution counsel, M. Lawal, subsequently asked the court to convict him accordingly.
Judge Isiaka found him guilty and sentenced him to two years’ imprisonment or a fine of 100,000 naira. He also forfeited the criminal instrument, Techno Spark 8P, and 7,000 naira in proceeds of crime to the federal government through the EFCC.
The two inmates began their journey to the correctional center when they were arrested in and around the Kaduna metropolis for Internet-related crimes.
After prosecution by the EFCC, they were found to be impersonators. The court found them guilty and convicted them accordingly.
