Man Sentenced To 168 Years For N2.5 Million Fraud

An Ikeja High Court in Lagos State, Nigeria, today sentenced a middle-aged man, Olaolu Salau, to an imprisonment of 168 years with hard labor for defrauding a Lagos-based businessman, Solomon Ayoola, of N2.5 million.

Judge Adeniyi Onigbanjo gave the verdict following a plea bargain between the convict and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Under the terms of the bargain, Mr. Salau pleaded guilty to an amended 24-count charge.

In sentencing him, the judge ordered that the convict serve seven years for each of the 24-counts at Kirikiri Prisons, Lagos. Justice Onigbanjo however ordered that the sentence run concurrently starting from December 11, 2007, the date Mr. Salau was arrested by the EFCC.

In addition to the jail sentence, the convict was also ordered to pay restitution of N2.5 million to his victim. The judge ruled that he must pay the cash within a year of his release from prison.
The court also approved a plan by prosecutors to use Mr. Salau as a prosecution witness against the remaining defendants. Mr. Salau was originally arraigned with four others on allegations of conspiracy and defrauding Mr. Ayoola at different times to the tune of N2.5 million.

The alleged fraudsters reportedly told Mr. Ayoola that they could increase his money by invoking an invisible entity.

Continue reading