A Nigerian man, Benjamin Ikaa, has been sentenced to five years in prison for running a fraudulent cryptocurrency investment scheme that swindled investors from four countries of $1.6 million.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) announced the conviction and sentencing of Ikaa on Thursday, in a statement posted on its Facebook page.
According to the statement, he was arrested by the EFCC for operating a fictitious cryptocurrency investment website, where he promised mouth-watering returns on investment, resulting in his unsuspecting victims incurring a loss of 26 bitcoins as at February 2023.
He pleaded guilty to one count of obtaining money by false pretence before Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court, Abuja.
The court ordered him to pay a fine of N5 million ($12,000) and forfeit an iPhone 13 and a Toyota Avalon car, 2013 model, to the federal government.
The statement added that the $11,000 recovered from him would be returned to his victims, who are from South Africa, Norway, United Kingdom and Barbados.
He confessed to his fraudulent activities when confronted with the evidence and however, wrote an undertaking to steer away from cybercrime henceforth.
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