Justice Rahman Oshodi of the Ikeja Special Offences Court sentenced Babatunde Sodiq to one year in prison on Friday for possessing fraudulent documents, following his arraignment by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The EFCC charged Sodiq with possession of fraudulent documents under Section 320 of the Lagos State Criminal Law, 2015. He was accused of holding documents he “knew or ought to have known were false.” The offence took place on May 14, 2024, in Lagos.
Sodiq pleaded guilty to the charge, prompting the EFCC prosecuting counsel, T.J. Banjo, to call an EFCC investigator as a witness. John Enemali, an EFCC investigative officer, detailed the April 2024 investigation, which uncovered an “Organised Cybercrime Syndicate Network” in Lagos. Sodiq, arrested during a raid, admitted to conducting spamming and cryptocurrency scams under the alias “Michael Scott,” claiming to be based in Florida, USA. A forensic examination of his iPhone 11 revealed fraudulent documents, and Sodiq acknowledged profiting $250 from his scams.
During the trial, the court accepted Sodiq’s statements, the fraudulent documents, his iPhone 11, and a manager’s cheque for N100,000 as evidence. Sodiq’s counsel, Kelvin Emonvuan, pleaded for leniency, noting that Sodiq was a first-time offender who cooperated with the court and promised not to re-offend.
In his ruling, Justice Oshodi sentenced Sodiq to one year in prison, with an option to pay a N500,000 fine. The judge also ordered the forfeiture of all items recovered from Sodiq to the Federal Government.
