Ume Ifechukwu Clinton, a Nigerian citizen, has been sentenced to one year in prison by Justice Mojisola Dada of the Special Offences Court in Lagos for defrauding a Belgian caregiver and educator, Axelle Mahieu, of €45,000 in a sophisticated online fraud scheme. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) announced the conviction and sentence in a statement issued on Thursday.

Clinton was arraigned on February 22 this year on a three-count amended charge, which included impersonation and possession of fraudulent documents. During Wednesday’s hearing, he pleaded guilty after approaching the prosecution for a plea bargain.

Bilikisu Buhari, counsel for the EFCC, called Damilare Adeosun, an investigative officer with the agency, as a witness who testified against the defendant and presented several documents as evidence. Adeosun explained how the EFCC acted on an intelligence report from the Foundation for Investigative Journalism, indicating that Clinton pretended to be an EFCC officer to defraud Mahieu.

According to Adeosun, Mahieu was deceived into believing that Clinton was an official of the EFCC after he showed her a fake EFCC ID card. The defendant introduced Mahieu to a non-existent cryptocurrency investment, assuring her that she was in safe hands.

The investigation revealed that Clinton transferred the money received from Mahieu through cryptocurrency to his Binance account and exchanged the same through peer-to-peer transactions, crediting the same in Naira to his bank accounts in Nigeria. During his arrest, the fake ID card, expensive wristwatches, and a bundle of cash totalling about N150,000 were recovered from Clinton.

Justice Dada declared Clinton guilty as charged and sentenced him to one year in prison. She further ordered him to restitute the €45,000 to Mahieu within three months.

The EFCC has been working to curb cybercrimes, especially those perpetrated through online fraud and related criminal activities. In recent years, the agency has been collaborating with other law enforcement agencies and foreign governments to investigate and prosecute perpetrators of cybercrimes in Nigeria. The EFCC has also been working to raise public awareness of the dangers of online fraud and the need for people to be more vigilant when dealing with online transactions.