A Lagos Magistrates’ Court in Igbosere, has,
handed down five years jail term to a customer service representative of Airtel
Nigeria Ltd, Jeremiah Mustapha, for facilitating a fraud to the tune of N2.2
million.
Mustapha, 32, alongside one Nurudeen Salimu, 35, was
arraigned on June 14, 2017, on a nine-count charge bordering on conspiracy,
stealing, fraud, and diverting messages from a phone number to another.
They however pleaded not guilty and were granted bail.
During the trial, the second defendant became mentally
incapacitated and could not continue with the trial.
Magistrate Mrs. A. G. Omoyele, who handed down the verdict,
sentenced Mustapha after finding him guilty of five counts out of the
nine-count charge preferred against him by the police.
The magistrate sentenced Mustapha to one year on each of the
five counts and ordered that the sentence should run concurrently.
She sentenced him without an option of fine and ordered that
the sentence should take effect from the day of sentencing.
Earlier, the prosecutor, Sergeant Cyriacus Osuji told the
court that the duo and others at large committed the offenses on October 10,
2016, in Lagos.
Osuji said that the first defendant, Mustapha, used his
position as the customer service representative of Airtel Nigeria Ltd and
diverted all short messages service (SMS), alerts, and calls from an Airtel no.
08023843032 belonging to one Kazeem Dele to a fraudster phone number.
The prosecutor said that the defendant unlawfully
disconnected all network services linked to the Airtel number above without the
consent of the owner.
“The number swap aided the second defendant to steal the sum
of N2.2 million from the Skye Bank account of the complainant.
“The second defendant forged the signature of the
complainant, falsely represented himself as the owner of the account, and
withdrew the said sum from the account,” Osuji said.
According to the prosecutor, the offenses committed are
contrary to and punishable under Sections 287, 333(1), 340, 334, 365(1), 337,
380, 411and 415 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.
Aditinal report from Vanguard NP
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