A 27-year-old fashion designer, Haruna Musa Tolani, has been sentenced to one year in prison for impersonating an official of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and defrauding the official of ₦20,000 through a fraudulent USSD transaction.
Justice Abimbola Awogboro of the Federal High Court in Ilorin delivered the judgment after Tolani pleaded guilty to a two-count charge bordering on impersonation and cybercrime, brought against him by the EFCC.
The court also ordered the restitution of the stolen ₦20,000 and the forfeiture of a ₦200,000 manager’s cheque to the victim. However, the convict was given an option of a ₦200,000 fine in lieu of serving the jail term.
Tolani, a tailor by profession, was initially arraigned on January 28, 2025, where he pleaded not guilty. However, he later changed his plea to guilty after the EFCC presented substantial evidence against him.
The offense occurred in August 2024 when Tolani impersonated Callistus Egwuonwu, an EFCC investigator, and used his identity to fraudulently conduct a USSD transaction on the Access Bank platform. He used the transaction to purchase MTN data worth ₦20,000 from Egwuonwu’s account.
The act contravened provisions of the Cybercrime (Prohibition and Prevention) Act, 2015.
The EFCC has continued to emphasize its commitment to prosecuting cyber-related offenses and warned the public against impersonation and digital fraud.
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