A Nigerian court has convicted a man and sentenced him to one year in prison. Obu Ebibo (alias: Kenneth Gibson) is accused of using a bogus cryptocurrency platform to defraud an investor. He defrauded $680, as stated by the report.
The Nigerian Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) stated that Ebibo would have to serve a complete year in jail time.
However, the court gave Ebibo an option to pay a fine worth $1,180 or 500,000 Nigerian naira. Ebibo can deposit the fine into the government’s consolidated revenue account. According to a report published by PM News, Ebibo contravened the Nigerian anti-fraud laws.
The charge sheet states, “That you Obu Gabriel Ebibo (alias Kenneth Gibson) on or about the 1st November 2021, in Port Harcourt, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court with intent to defraud obtained an aggregate sum of Six Hundred and Eighty United States Dollars ($680.00 USD) on the pretence that, the money was meant for cryptocurrency investment, a pretext you knew to be false and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 1 (2) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud-Related Offences Act 2006 and punishable under Section 1 (3) of the same Act.”
Ebibo, however, has pleaded guilty, and the prosecution counsel had made a request to the court to sentence Ebibo accordingly. However, Ebibo’s lawyer stated that since Ebibo had accepted that he was guilty, the court must show mercy to the first-time offender.
The judge reportedly ordered that the mobile phone Ebibo used to defraud an unsuspecting investor must be forfeited to the Nigerian state.
Unlike many countries of the world, the crypto industry in Nigeria is well-regulated. Through proper regulations and standardized laws, Ebibo was caught and sentenced to one year in prison.
