A student of the University of Port Harcourt, UNIPORT, Gift Kenneth, his mother and girlfriend have sentenced to prison for defrauding an American lady, Lucinda Ann Garnes Henrichson, of around $902,935, about N371 million.
Kenneth, his mother, Dora Animam and his girlfriend, Spice Chimzi Dandy Igwe, were jailed by a Federal High Court in Asaba, Delta State,presided over by Justice F. A. Olubanjo on Thursday, July 22, for internet fraud.
A statement by the Head, Media and Publicity, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Wilson Uwujaren, stayed that Animam and Igwe were arraigned on one count each by the Benin Zonal Office of the commission for offences bordering on impersonation and obtaining by false pretences.
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, Animam was said to have received the money with her Diamond and Access bank accounts, totaling $166,000 from Henrichson and N27 million from Abdullahi.
The accused all pleaded guilty to the charges preferred against them, and Justice Olubanjo convicted and sentenced both Kenneth and his mother, Animam to five years imprisonment or a fine of N3 million each; while Igwe was sentenced to two years imprisonment or a fine of N100,000.
A Mercedes Benz 300, Mercedes Benz CL250, iPhone 11 Pro Max, iPhone XX Max, Apple MacBook Pro, two Apple Mac books were said to have been recovered from Kenneth, along with a twin four-bedroomed uncompleted duplex in Asaba.
A sum of N4 million was also recovered and the victim, Henrichson was refunded the sum of $4,255, recovered from Kenneth’s contractor, through the US Embassy.
