An Igbosere Magistrates’ Court at Tinubu Square, Lagos Island, convicted and sentenced an agent, Okwudili Ezeobi, to 11 years in prison for deceiving a businessman into giving him N48,580,000 to buy phones from Dubai.
Magistrate Azeez Alogba directed the convict to refund the full amount of N48,580,000 to the victim by May 22, 2024, or serve the 11-year prison term.
Ezeobi faced charges of obtaining money under false pretenses and theft filed against him by the police on June 20, 2022.
Inspector Friday Mameh, the prosecutor, informed the court that the incident occurred on January 10, 2022, and the money was intended for buying and transporting 300 phones from Dubai, owned by Mr Onyekachukwu Mba.
He stated that the offenses violated Sections 314 and 287 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.
However, the defendant pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The trial began, and the prosecution presented two witnesses, while the defendant testified on his behalf.
The victim, Mba, testified in court that he is a phone dealer and met Ezeobi in January 2022. He sent N48,580,000 to Ezeobi to help him purchase phones from Dubai as an intermediary/agent.
Mba explained to Magistrate Alogba that prior to meeting the defendant, he had been buying phones from the United States but encountered shipping delays. Subsequently, he found a Dubai company and after confirming its legitimacy, he obtained Ezeobi's contact from a company staff member.
The judge noted that the victim, in his testimony, mentioned that he contacted Ezeobi via WhatsApp, and they successfully completed their initial transaction.
He added that the victim stated in his evidence, “After the first transaction, they conducted several successful transactions, but during the last transaction, there was a minor issue with the exchange rate, which angered the defendant and led him to express doubts about agents fleeing with clients' money.
“Mba explained that all his payments to the defendant were deposited into an account provided by Ezeobi, and after the final payment, he instructed Ezeobi, through chat and voice note, to personally inspect the goods before and after payment.
He mentioned that the defendant did not disclose his presence in Nigeria during the transaction. If he had known, he would not have transferred the money and as of now, he has not received his goods or a refund.”
Ezeobi, in his defense, informed the court that he was a businessman dealing in provisions and shipping goods from Dubai to Nigeria.
He stated that he met the victim in February 2021 when the latter sought assistance with currency exchange from Nigeria to Dubai.
The person who was found guilty said that he does business with his younger sibling in Dubai, and someone named Mohammed received the money in his Dubai account from the person he defrauded.
He said that after the payment, the victim sent the payment invoice to Mohammed, who then requested a day to deliver the phones. When Mohammed did not deliver the phones as promised, the guilty person's brother visited their office, showed evidence of the payment to Mohammed's colleague, and reported the case to the police.
The guilty person also said that the police in Dubai discovered that Mohammed had returned to Pakistan after checking the immigration system, and advised them to hire a lawyer, which they did.
During the judgment, Magistrate Alogba stated that the prosecution proved that Ezeobi misrepresented Mba by hiding his location.
The court found Ezeobi guilty of the first charge since the prosecution proved all the elements of the offense against him.
The court also found Ezeobi guilty of the second charge as the prosecution successfully proved all the elements of the stealing offense against him.
In conclusion, the court found Ezeobi guilty of both charges and convicted him accordingly.
He was ordered to repay the complainant N48,580,000 by May 22, 2024, or face a combined sentence of eight years for the first count and three years for the second count.
The sentences are to be served at the same time, starting from the day of judgment, according to Magistrate Alogba.
