One Kolade Emmanuel Balogun has been ordered by a Kwara state high court to control traffic for three months for committing Internet fraud.
The EFCC, on Thursday, slammed a one-count charge on Balogun, alleging that he fraudulently committed an offence by presenting himself as a white man named Mr William Davis, alias Behemooth, to an unsuspected white woman on a dating site, SeekingArrangement.
The charge read, “That you, Kolade Balogun (aka William Davis, alias Behemooth), sometime in March 2020 or thereabout, at Ilorin, Kwara State, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, attempted to commit an offence of cheating by personation by pretending and representing yourself to be a white man called William Davis, alias Behemooth, to an unsuspecting white woman on a dating site….”
The offence, according to the prosecution, was contrary to and punishable under Section 95 of the Penal Code Law of Northern Nigeria.
The suspect however pleaded guilty to the charge leveled against him.
The prosecuting counsel, Aliyu Adebayo, in his submission, asked the court to convict the defendant based on his plea, proof of evidence and exhibits tendered before the court.
However, the defence counsel, Rotimi Oyagbola, urged the presiding judge to temper justice with mercy, arguing that his client was a first-time offender.
The Judge who sentenced the convict on Thursday August 13 after he pleaded guilty to the charge against him, said he should pay a fine of N50,000 and control traffic at a junction behind the Kwara State Ministry of Physical Planning for three months commencing from August 17 to October 17, 2020..
He also ordered that the convict’s items, including phones and laptops recovered from him, be forfeited to the Federal Government.
