The Kaduna Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Friday arraigned five suspects before Justice Hannatu Balogun of the Kaduna State High Court, Kaduna, on separate one-count for offences ranging from impersonation to obtaining by false pretences.

The defendants: Lucky Ebhogie, Magaret Sylvester, Richman Godwin, Israel Justin and Precious Iwuji were said to have defrauded some Americans of varying sums of money.

One of the charges read, “That you, Israel Justin (male) sometime in July 2021 at Kaduna, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court in an attempt to commit fraud falsely presented yourself to one Angie Barfrag as James Thompson (an American Military Personnel) serving in Ohio, United States of America, which pretence you knew to be false and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 5 (2) and punishable under Section 1 (3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006.”

A statement by the EFCC spokesman, Wilson Uwujaren, titled, ‘Son, mother, three others arraigned for Internet fraud in Kaduna,’ said the defendants all pleaded not guilty to their respective charges.

Upon their pleas, the prosecution counsel, N. Salele asked the court to remand them in prison custody and fix a date for the commencement of the trial but the defence counsel, C.E Okonkwo drew the attention of the court to a pending motion for the bail of his clients and urged the court to admit them to bail.

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Balogun remanded the defendants in a correctional centre and adjourned the matter till August 26, 2021 for ruling on the bail applications.

Meanwhile, Umar Hassan, an assistant headmaster at Goron Dutse Primary School in Dala Local Government of Kano State and a surety in the case of one Abdulkadir Sani was on Friday, sentenced to six months imprisonment by Justice Zuwaira Yusuf of the Kano State High Court for presenting false information to mislead operatives of the Kano Command of the EFCC into granting bail to a suspect in a criminal case being investigated by the agency.

The court had on August 12 convicted the defendant after he pleaded guilty to a one-count of false information but reserved sentencing till August 20, 2021.

The defendant’s trouble began after he stood as a surety for Sani, who was being investigated by the Kano Zonal Command of the commission for allegedly obtaining by false pretence and forgery.

When the defendant failed to produce the principal suspect at the required time, it was discovered that all the information given by him, including the claim of being a brother to the suspect, were false.