In Ilorin, a court has sentenced a false American widow to three years in prison.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ilorin Zonal Command, has secured the conviction of one Aderibigbe Sheu, a student of Kwara State University, KWASU, Malete, for impersonating a widow living in the United States of America, USA, in order to swindle unsuspecting victims.

According to an EFCC statement, Aderibigbe, a resident of Osogbo, Osun State Capital, was one of 30 suspected online fraudsters detained on September 19, 2021 in Malete, Moro Local Government Area of Kwara State during a sting operation by EFCC operatives. Before Justice Muhammed Sani of the Federal High Court in Ilorin, he was charged by the anti-graft agency with one count of cybercrime and retention of proceeds of crime.

The defendant pleaded guilty to the allegation at his arraignment on Wednesday, June 1, 2022.

Following his 'guilty plea,' EFCC counsel Rasheedat Alao reviewed the facts of the case and presented the defendant's extrajudicial statements, which included his phone, laptop, and other damning information printed from his devices, all of which were accepted into evidence.

She encouraged the court to evaluate the defendant's guilty plea, extrajudicial declarations, and all documents presented in order to convict him as accused.

In his decision, Justice Sani found Aderibigbe guilty of the offence and sentenced him to three years in prison with the option of a fine of N982,403 after concluding that the court was satisfied with the evidence presented before it (Nine Hundred and Eighty Two Thousand, Four Hundred and Three Naira Only). The iPhone 7+ and laptop used to commit the offence were also ordered to be forfeited to the federal government by the court.