Court jails Kwara tailor for impersonating, defrauding EFCC investigating officer

Justice Abimbola Awogboro of the Federal High Court in Ilorin, Kwara State, has sentenced Haruna Musa Tolani, a 27-year-old fashion designer, to 12 months in prison for impersonating and defrauding Callitus Egwuonwu, an investigating officer with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) at the Ilorin Zonal Directorate.

According to a statement issued by Dele Oyewale, the head of media and publicity for the anti-graft agency, Tolani, a native of the Ilorin East local government area in Kwara State, was initially arraigned on January 28, 2025, on two counts of impersonation and cybercrime.

He pleaded not guilty at first but later changed his plea to guilty after substantial evidence was presented by the EFCC’s counsel, Sesan Ola.

Count one of the charge reads: “That you, Haruna Musa Tolani, in August 2024 at Ilorin within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court with intent to defraud, misrepresented yourself via electronic message sent through unstructured supplementary service data (USSD) to Access Bank Plc. With respect to account number 0022643389, property of Mr Callistus Egwuonwu, with which you purchased N20,000.00 worth of MTN data which resulted into loss to the owner of the account and you thereby commit an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 14(2) of the cybercrime (Prohibition and Prevention) Act, 2015”.

“That you Haruna Musa Tolani sometime in August, 2024 at Ilorin within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court fraudulently impersonated one Callistus Egwuonwu via electronic message sent through unstructured supplementary service data (USSD) to Access Bank Plc with respect to account number 0022643389, property of Callistus Egwuonwu with intention to purchase MTN data worth N20,000.00 which you did purchase and thereby committed offence contrary to Section 22(2)(b)(ii) of the cybercrime (Prohibition and Prevention) Act,2015 and punishable under Section 22(2)(b)(iv) of the same Act”.

Justice Awogboro sentenced Tolani to 12 months in prison but offered an option to pay a fine of N200,000 instead. The court also ordered the forfeiture of a First Bank manager’s cheque for N200,000 to be paid to the victim.

Additionally, Tolani was directed to restitute N20,000, the amount he obtained fraudulently.

Tolani was sentenced to imprisonment after being arrested for internet fraud. He was charged in court, pleaded guilty, and was subsequently convicted.

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