A University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT) student, Gift Kenneth his mum and his girlfriend have been convicted and sentenced to jail by a Federal High Court sitting in Asaba, Delta State.
A statement by EFCC says Kenneth, his mother, Animam and girlfriend, Dandy Spice Igwe were arraigned on one count charge each by the Benin Zonal Office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for offences bordering on impersonation and obtaining by false pretenses.
They were said to have conspired to defraud an American lady, Lucinda Ann Garnes Henrichson of an aggregate sum of $902,935.
Kenneth was said to have disguised as one Raymond Carl Eric and in 2018 and 2019 lied to Henrichson of Texas, US, about an infrastructural investment project. This was followed by the transfer of the money through various channels – Shuaibu Abdullahi and Dora Animam’s bank accounts.
According to the statement, kenneth’s mother, Animan, received the money with her Diamond and Access bank accounts. she received $166,000 from Henrichson and N27 million from Abdullahi.
The presiding judge, Justice F. A. Olubanjo convicted and sentenced both Gift Kenneth and his mother, Dora Animam to five years imprisonment or a fine of N3 million each while Spice Chimzi Dandy Igwe was sentenced to two years imprisonment or a fine of N100,000.
The Court also ordered all items recovered during the investigation which included Mercedes Benz CL250, Mercedes Benz 300, iPhone I1 Promax, iPhone XX Max, Apple Mac book Pro, 2 Apple Mac book, N4, 000,000 found in his account, Twin 4 bedroom uncompleted duplex in Asaba, the cash sum of N4, 000,000 found on him and $ 4,255 recovered from his contractor, forfeited and restituted to the victim through the American Embassy.