Justice Lekan Ogunmoye of the Ekiti State High Court has convicted and sentenced one Bethel Onyedikachi Ukachukwu to two years imprisonment for car auction fraud.
The convict was arraigned by the Ekiti Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on three -count amended charges bordering on obtaining by false pretence
Specifically, he collected the sum of Five Hundred Thousand Naira (N500,000.00) by false pretence from Mr. Kayode Aina Samuel under the pretext that he will get a bid for an auctioned car for him with Nigeria Customs Service
Count One reads: “That you, Bethel Onyekachi Ukachukwu, sometimes in 15th April 2026 at Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State within the jurisdiction of this Honorable court with intent to defraud and obtain the total sum of Five Hundred Thousand Naira Only (N500,000.00) from one Kayode Aina Samuel under the pretext that you will use the same money to bid for an auction car for him with Nigeria Customs Service which pretext you knew to be false which goes contrary to Section (1) (b) and 1 (3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and other Fraud Related Offences Act 2006.
Count two reads: “That Bethel Onyekachi Ukachukwu on or about the 15th day of April 2026 at Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State within the jurisdiction of this Honorable court, did dishonestly convert to your own use the sum of Five Hundred Thousand Naira Only (N500,000.00) being the property of Mr. Kayode Aina Samuel which was entrusted to you for the specific purpose of purchasing a motor vehicle on his behalf and you thereby committed an offence contrary to section 295 (2)(f) and punishable under section 302 (1) of the Criminal Law of Ekiti State 2021”
Following the defendant’s guilty plea, prosecution counsel, Saidu Yusuf, called Prosecution Witness 1, PW1, Emmanuel Onuminya and tendered all the exhibits and evidence against the defendant. The court admitted the exhibits as evidence. Thereafter, the prosecution counsel prayed the court to convict the defendant accordingly.
In the same vein, counsel to the defendant, T.A. Salami, pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy. He informed the court that the convict was remorseful for his actions and had made restitution to the petitioner.
Thereafter, Justice Ogunmoye convicted and sentenced the defendant to two years imprisonment with an option of fine in the sum of One Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira (₦150,000.00).
The convict’s journey to the Correctional facility began when he falsely presented himself as a Lieutenant in the Nigerian Army and fraudulently obtained the sum of Five Hundred Thousand Naira (₦500,000.00) from the petitioner under a false pretence of securing a vehicle for him. However, he neither delivered the vehicle nor refunded the money. He has since been remanded at the Ado-Ekiti Correctional Centre.
