Justice Sergius Onah of the Federal High Court sitting in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, on Monday, March 24, 2025 convicted and sentenced Oguzie Chima Joseph ( a.k.a Sergeant Flores Nguyen) to two years imprisonment for internet fraud.
He was prosecuted by the Uyo Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on two–count charges bordering on cybercrimes.
Count one of the charges against read “That you Oguzie Chima Joseph (a.k.a Sergeant Flores Nguyen), sometime in 2024 in Nigeria within the jurisdiction of this Honorable court, with intent to obtain property and gain advantage for yourself, fraudulently presented yourself as Sergeant Flores Uguyeni an officer of the United States Army on social media platform (Facebook) and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 22 (2) (b)(0) of the Cyber Crime (Prohibition, Prevention Etc) (Amendment) Act 2024 and punishable under Section 22(b) (iv) of the same Act.”
Count two read “That you Oguzie Chima Joseph (a.k.a Sergeant Flores Nguyen), sometime in 2024 in Nigeria within the jurisdiction of this Honorable court, did directly take possession of the sum of One Hundred United States Dollar (S100), which money you reasonably ought to know formed part of the proceeds of an unlawful act to wit: cybercrime and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 18 (2) (d) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022 and punishable under Section 18 (3) of the same Act”.
Joseph pleaded guilty to the charges when they were first read to him on Monday, March 10, 2025.
Based on his pleas, prosecution counsel, Khamis Mahmud, tendered some exhibits through a witness, Assistant Superintendent of the EFCC, ASE ll Musa Yahaya, an EFCC investigator.
The exhibits include: a written statement of the defendant, one iphone OR mobile device and printouts of fraudulent documents from the defendant’s phone.
While delivering judgment on Monday, March 24, 2025, Justice Onah convicted Oguzie on both counts of the charges against him. “The prosecution has been able to present his facts before this Honourable Court, and with the guilty pleas by the defendant, I therefore find you Oguzie Chima Joseph guilty as charged”.
Thereafter, the judge sentenced him to one year imprisonment on each of the two counts, and the sentence is to run concurrently with an option of fine of N200,000.00 (Two Hundred Thousand Naira). The convict would also restitute the sum of $100(One Hundred United States Dollars) which he benefited from the fraudulent dealings.
In addition, Justice Onah ordered the forfeiture of the convict’s iPhone XR mobile device being proceeds of crime to the government.
The convict commenced his journey to the Correctional Centre on December 6, 2024, when he was arrested by a team of investigators from the Commission’s office in Uyo. He was linked to internet fraud through credible intelligence that showed that he used fictitious social media handles to lure and defraud his victims.
