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FBI 'Yahoo Boys' Indictment: Court Jails Joseph Oyediran

October 18, 2019

Oyediran was convicted and sentenced accordingly on Thursday by
Justice Mahmood Abdulgafar following his prosecution by the Economic
and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

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Joseph Oyediran, one of those indicted by the United States Federal
Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has been sentenced to one-year
imprisonment by a Kwara State Court.

Oyediran was convicted and sentenced accordingly on Thursday by
Justice Mahmood Abdulgafar following his prosecution by the Economic
and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The convict was arraigned on a five-count charge on internet fraud and
other meditated crimes, to which he pleaded not guilty.

However, he later approached the EFCC for a plea bargain agreement.

After the agreement was made, the prosecution amended the charges.

The amended charge read, “That you, Joseph Oyediran, alias Joe MG
Graves, between April 2015 and June 2015 in Ilorin within the
jurisdiction of this honourable court, did cheat by impersonation when
you pretended to be one Joe MG Graves, a white man with the Gmail
account, [email protected], and fraudulently deceived one Andrea
Smith, an American, to send N2,392,105 after you made her believe that
you were in love with her, thereby committing an offence contrary to
Section 321 of the Penal Code and punishable under section 324 of the
same Penal Code.”

He pleaded guilty to the amended one count.

While reviewing the facts of the case, the prosecution called the head
of the Advance Fee Fraud Section of the commission at the Ilorin zonal
office, Olamide Sadiq, who gave details of the investigation carried
out by his team.

Olamide, a Principal Detective Superintendent, told Justice
Abdulgafar, “My Lord, on July 24, 2019, the commission received a
petition from the Federal Bureau of Investigations against the
defendant.  The FBI alleged that Oyediran was involved in business
email compromise, romance scam, and other fraud-related offences.
Based on the investigation, the suspect was arrested and he confessed
to the crime.”

Delivering his judgment, Justice Abdulgafar said the testimonies of
the prosecution witness, the plea of the defendant and documents
presented were enough to conclude that the prosecution had been able
to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt.

“The convict is hereby sentenced to one-year imprisonment, while his
one plot of land located at Wara, behind the Ilorin West Local
Government Secretariat, and the sum of N800,000 recovered from him
should be forfeited to the Federal Government,” the judge ruled.