Court convicts FBI suspect

Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo of the Lagos State
Special Offences Court, Ikeja has convicted and
sentenced Abiona Akinyemi Festus to two years
imprisonment for internet fraud.

The convict who was prosecuted by the Ilorin
Zonal Office of the Economic and Financial
Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a two-count
charge of internet fraud was on wanted list of the
Federal Bureau of Investigations of the United
States Department of Justice.

The FBI, in a petition dated July 10, 2019 had
appealed to the Ilorin zonal office of the
Commission to ensure Festus’ arrest and
prosecution, for his roles in multi-million naira
international scam.

One of the charges read, “That you Abiona
Akinyemi Festus (Ella Jones), sometime between
January 2011- May 2016 at Lagos within the
jurisdiction of this honourable court by means of
fraudulent trick used the email address
ellajones05@yahoo.com to bypass online
security and obtained the sum of N5, 950, 000
(Five Million, Nine Hundred and Fifty Thousand
Naira), only from retirement accounts, held by an
insurance company for public workers in the
United States of America.”

Festus pleaded guilty to the charges, upon which
the Head of Advance Fee Fraud, EFCC, Ilorin
zonal office, Olamide Sadiq, reviewed the facts of
the case, which included that defendant was
arrested based on a petition from the FBI linking
him to the offence.

Justice Taiwo convicted him as charged and
sentenced him to one year imprisonment on each
of the two counts with a N300, 000 option of
fine on each of the counts.

The judge also ordered him to return the sums of
money he cornered to the FBI.