Samson Oluwasola, a bogus beauty promoter, was convicted and sentenced to ten years in jail by Justice A.A Isiaka of the Kaduna State High Court for defrauding and acquiring money by false pretence.
Oluwasola was charged with one count of defrauding and gaining money by deception by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s Kaduna Zonal Command.
This was revealed on the EFCC’s official X page on Thursday.
According to the post, Oluwasola’s path to the Correctional Centre began when a petitioner, Suzzie Solomon, said she saw a beauty contest post on WhatsApp and expressed interest.
According to the post, Solomon joined the group and participated, following which she was chosen as one of the finalists.
She claimed she was regularly sending payments for votes totaling N740,000 to an account provided by the group admin, despite the fact that no winner had been notified.
She was asked to pay extra money, and feeling foul play, she filed a complaint with the EFCC.
The inquiry also found that the suspect devised the entire plan, dubbed “Online Photo Contest,” in 2020 in order to rob unsuspecting members of the public of their money.
The charge reads:
“That you 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 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.”
Oluwasola pleaded guilty to the charge preferred against 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.
The post added that Oluwasola forfeited two iPhones, a Mercedes Benz E350 2011 model, and a Toyota Camry 2011 XLE to the Federal Government.
He also returned N740,000 to the victim.