Sophia Michaels
A Kaduna State High Court has handed a 10 year jail term to a fake online beauty promoter, Ogunleye Samson Oluwasola, for cheating and obtaining by false pretence.
He was convicted and sentenced by Justice A. A Isiaka after pleading guilty to a one-count charge bordering on cheating and obtaining by false pretence, preferred against him by the Kaduna Zonal command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The lone count charge reads: “That you Ogunleye Samson Oluwasola sometime in March 2023 in Kaduna, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, fraudulently induced one Solomon Suzie to deliver to you the sum of N740,000.00 (Seven Hundred and Forty Thousand naira) for an online photo contest, a pretence which you knew to be false and you thereby committed the offence of cheating contrary to Section 306(a) and punishable under Section 307 of the Penal Code Law of Kaduna State, 2017.”
He pleaded guilty to the charge when it was read to him. Based on his plea, prosecution counsel, M. Lawal, prayed the court to convict and sentence him accordingly.
Justice Isiaka, thereafter, sentenced and convicted Samson to 10 years imprisonment. He also forfeited two iPhones, Mercedes Benz E350, 2011 model, Toyota Camry 2011 XLE to the federal government. He has also restituted the sum of N740,000.00 (Seven Hundred and Forty Thousand Naira only) to a victim.
Oluwasola’s journey to the Correctional Centre began when a petitioner, Solomon Suzzie, petitioned the EFCC, alleging that she came across a beauty contest post on WhatsApp and indicated interest. She joined the group and participated after which she was selected as one of the contestants.
She was constantly making payments for votes amounting to N740,000.00 to an account provided by the group admin with no winner announced. She was asked to pay more money and sensing foul play, she petitioned the EFCC.
The investigation further revealed that the entire scheme, tagged “Online Photo Contest,” was designed by the suspect, the sole proprietor in 2020, to defraud unsuspecting members of the public of their money.
