The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Thursday arraigned one Dennis Tamarakuro before Justice Emeka Nwite at the Federal High Court in Maitama, Abuja, for offence of $71,795.41 fraud targeting a U.S.-based non-governmental organisation.
The Commission, in a statement on its X account, said Tamarakuro, also known as Keisha Reynolds, was arraigned on a single-count charge of cybercrime.
The charge reads, “That you, DENNIS TAMARAKURO (a.k.a Keisha Reynolds) sometime in December 2024 at Abuja within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, with intent to defraud, falsely represented yourself as Keisha Reynolds, a female private investor in the United States of America, and in that assumed character obtained the sum of $71,795.41 (Seventy-One Thousand, Seven Hundred and Ninety-Five Dollars, Forty-One Cents) from one Philbert, through Bybit, and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 22(2)(b)(ii) of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act, 2015 as Amended in 2024 and punishable under Section 22(2)(b)(iv) of the same Act.”
He pleaded guilty when the charge was read to him.
Investigations, supported by intelligence from the Jackson Township Police Department in the US, revealed that the NGO’s bank details were compromised, with the illicit proceeds laundered through cryptocurrency exchanges Bybit and Busha.
EFCC investigator Ogunjobi Olalekan presented evidence showing Tamarakuro received 0.27 Bitcoin twice from an intermediary, Libson Junior, and later withdrew $18,000 via Busha.
The commission recovered over $42,000 in cryptocurrency, with an additional $22,157.40 and $20,121.41 blocked by Bybit and Busha, respectively.
The court ordered the forfeited sums returned to the victim.
Following a guilty plea, Justice Nwite sentenced Tamarakuro to one year in prison, with an option of a N1 million fine payable to the Federal Government.
The convict was also directed to depose an affidavit of good conduct.
Defence counsel Laye Aeemokoya pleaded for leniency, citing Tamarakuro’s status as a first-time offender and caregiver to an aged mother, though the court upheld the sentence.
PUNCH Online reports the conviction comes barely a day after the anti-graft agency arrested the Chief Executive Officer of Gavice Logistics Limited, Ahamba Tochukwu, for allegedly defrauding investors of over N2bn through a failed logistics investment scheme.
EFCC Chairman, Mr. Ola Olukoyede, had in July raised alarm over the growing threat of virtual asset and investment scams across Africa, warning that fraudsters are increasingly leveraging digital technologies to exploit unsuspecting investors.
