A 19-year old school-leaver, Tobechukwu
Igbokwe, was convicted and sentenced to 37 years’ imprisonment for defrauding an
American of $40m in an inheritance scam by Justice Lateef Akapo of a Lagos High
Court on Wednesday
Igbokwe (alias David Prince) and his
accomplice, Ifeanyi Obi, made M. Sila to believe that they had a
huge inheritance, which they wanted to move to a foreign account for
safekeeping.
The victim was asked to send money to
“process” the transfer and in the process, he wired $40m through
Western Union to Igbokwe.
Igbokwe also confessed that he had duped other foreigners, including T. Bedwell ( $6,000) and R. Hunt ($15,000).
He was arraigned before the court on 12 counts bordering on forgery, conspiracy and obtaining money by false pretences.
Justice Akapo found him guilty on all
counts and sentenced him accordingly. He was sentenced to seven years on
counts 1-8; eight years on count 9; seven years on count 10, eight
years on count 11 and seven years on count 12, making a cumulative of 37
years imprisonment.
The sentence is to run concurrently with
effect from October 28, 2013. The court also ordered Igbokwe to return
the $40m as restitution to the victim and forfeit a Toyota Corolla,
which he used part of the money to buy.
Igbokwe was arraigned on Monday,
October 28, 2013 and pleaded not guilty to the 12 charges pressed
against him. He later changed his plea to guilty and was convicted by
Justice Akapo accordingly.
Before the conviction, the prosecuting
counsel, Kayode Oni, tendered various exhibits before the court, which
were all admitted and marked as such.
However, the defence counsel, D. A.
Omougbai prayed the court to temper justice with mercy, since Igbokwe
had shown remorse for the offences he committed
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