Tag Archives: Jail Term

N10m Scam: EFCC Impostor Bags 14 Years Jail Term

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The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has secured the conviction of a notorious fraudster, Abiodun Edward, a member of a syndicate which specialises in impersonating staff of the agency, to defraud unsuspecting victims.

EFCC spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren said in a statement that Edward was arraigned on Wednesday, October 14, 2015 and prosecuted on a 3-count charge of impersonation and obtaining by false pretence to the tune of N10million before Justice Beatrice Iliya of the State High Court, Gombe.

“The convict and his accomplices, Murtala Bello and Esther Momoh, who are still at large, had allegedly claimed to be staff of EFCC Abuja Office, in order to defraud one Umar Bello.

“The complainant alleged that Bello had, on March 13, 2015 phoned him, assuring him that the convict could “kill” a petition purportedly written against him, if he could part with a sum of N10million.

“Consequently, Bello was said to have sent the phone number of Momoh who claimed to be a principal detective superintendent, PDS, with EFCC to the victim for further discussion on how the money could be paid to them.

“The complainant later alleged that after negotiation, the convict agreed to collect N300,000.00 (three hundred thousand naira) from him when he could not raise the initial N10million,” the EFCC explained.

The statement further noted that the complaint further said one ‘Laolu Adegbite’ who claimed to be the officer handling his purported case, sent an SMS to him to appear before the Commission on March 23, 2015.

According to him, owing to the persistent threat by the convict, he paid the sum of N50,000.00 (fifty thousand naira) into the convict’s Diamond Bank account number, 0044213102, which was sent to him by Momoh on March 25, 2015.

Worried by the persistent threat by the convict over the balance of N250, 000.00 (two hundred and fifty thousand naira), the victim petitioned EFCC, which led to convict’s arrest and subsequent prosecution.

Justice Iliya found Edward guilty of two counts and sentenced him to seven years imprisonment on each of the count without option of fine.

The sentences are to run concurrently from the date of the convict’s arraignment.

Justice Iliya also ordered the convict to pay N50, 000.00 (fifty thousand naira) as restitution to the victim.

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http://leadership.ng/news/561918/n10m-scam-efcc-impostor-bags-14-years-jail-term

Saudi Activist Given 2-year Jail Term Over Tweets

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Saudi Arabia has handed down a 2-year prison sentence to an activist on charges that he used Twitter to encourage protests against the ruling Al Saud regime and to urge the release of political prisoners.

The unnamed man was found guilty and sentenced to jail by the Specialized Criminal Court in Riyadh on Wednesday for his tweets, among other offenses. This Saudi court’s jurisdiction involves terrorism-related charges.

The activist was accused of opening Twitter accounts and using them to call for gatherings against the Saudi regime, and inciting “riots” to demand the release of detainees who are imprisoned for security and terrorism charges.

His charges included being hostile to the Saudi dynasty and publishing posts offensive to security forces as well as King Salman.

According to Saudi media, the man’s mobile has been confiscated and his active Twitter account shut. He is also barred from traveling and posting messages on social media sites for two years after his release.

The monarchy is consistently singled out and criticized for its widespread violation of human rights. US-based Human Rights Watch and UK-based Amnesty International have both condemned Saudi Arabia for cracking down on activists and political dissidents.

Back in March, the Amnesty released a statement, saying the kingdom had enforced an “abusive” anti-terror law, which associates peaceful protests with terrorism and allows it to hand down lengthy jail terms to peaceful critics and human rights activists after holding “deeply unfair” trials for them.

Saudi Arabia has put several prominent reform activists behind bars since 2001 when the country’s first criminal procedure code was introduced.

The regime allows for up to 10 years of imprisonment for anyone who is charged with offending the Saudi monarch and causing panic among the public.

Read More: presstv

South African Prosecutors Seek Longer Jail Term For Pistorius

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A South African judge on Friday rejected the state’s appeal seeking a longer jail sentence for Paralympian Oscar Pistorius, who is serving a six-year term for killing his girlfriend three years ago.

Thokozile Masipa — the same judge who imposed the sentence last month — said in the High Court in Johannesburg that she was not persuaded there was a “reasonable prospect of success on appeal”.

“The application for leave to appeal against the sentence is dismissed with costs,” she said.

The prosecution had been pushing for a longer sentence against the fallen 29-year-old sprint star over the 2013 murder of Reeva Steenkamp.

“The sentence of six years is shockingly lenient and disturbingly inappropriate,” prosecutor Gerrie Nel argued in court.

Pistorius shot Steenkamp, a model and law graduate, in the early hours of Valentine’s Day in 2013, saying he mistook her for a burglar when he fired four times through the door of his bedroom toilet.

At his sentencing in July, Masipa listed mitigating factors for ordering Pistorius to serve less than half the minimum 15-year term for murder, including the athlete’s claim he believed he was shooting an intruder.

“I’m of the view that a long term of imprisonment will not serve justice,” Masipa said then.

– ‘Enough is enough’ –

But Nel argued that the six-year sentence was flawed and that it should be appealed.

“Another court may find that this court misdirected itself,” said Nel.

Masipa was also the judge who had originally convicted Pistorius of the lesser charge of culpable homicide, the equivalent of manslaughter, in 2014.

An appeals court upgraded his conviction to murder in December last year.

Pistorius’s defence said it was an “insult” to suggest that the court’s sentencing had been flawed and that it was time the case came to a close.

“Enough is enough. What does the state want?” defence lawyer Barry Roux said.

“This process has been exhausted beyond the point of exhaustion,” he added, accusing the prosecution of sending Pistorius “like a ping pong ball between courts”.

Pistorius, who pleaded not guilty at his high-profile trial, has always denied killing 29-year-old Steenkamp in a rage, saying he was trying to protect her.

South African media reports earlier this month said that Pistorius had been put on suicide watch following mysterious wrist injuries.

The year before he killed Steenkamp, Pistorius — known as the Blade Runner — became the first double-amputee to race at Olympic level when he appeared at the London 2012 Games.

Former California High School Student Wins $6m Settlement After Impregnating English Teacher

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A 21 year old former student at Citrus Valley High School in Redlands, California who impregnated his teacher (pictured above), has received $6 million from his school district, the largest single-victim sex abuse settlements ever from a public agency.

The boy who was 16 when the incident occurred, received the large sum on Friday, three years after the arrest of his former teacher and lover, Laura Whitehurst and as at the time he was having a sexual relationship with his female teacher Laura, he was under 18 years.
According to the former student, he felt manipulated and used by Laura while he was in school, as he started having sex with her at the age of 16 in her apartment, before she gave birth to their child in June 2013 — while he was still in school
Whitehurst, a former AP English teacher, was slapped with 41 felony sex assault charges for her relationship with this student and two others, all of whom were under 18 at the time.
Laura Whitehurst, 29, is now a registered sex offender. During the court trial, the student’s attorneys accused the school of ignoring warning signs about the relationship.
Laura and the student (names withheld) now shares custody of the child with her former student.

Appeal Court Affirms Nollywood Actress, Ibinabo Fiberisima’s 5-Year Jail Term

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The Court of Appeal in Lagos on Friday, dismissed an appeal by Nollywood actress Ibinabo Fiberesima challenging a jail term slammed on her by a Lagos High Court.

 

Ibinabo was sentenced to five years imprisonment by Justice Deborah Oluwayemi of a Lagos High Court for reckless driving which led to the death of a hospital staff.

 

She was alleged to have driven her car recklessly on the Lekki-Epe Expressway and knocked down a man, Giwa Suraj.

 

The deceased was said to be a staff of a Lagos state’s hospital. A Magistrate court (court of first instance) had earlier given the appellant an option of N100,000 fine for the offence. The judgment of the magistrate was,however, set aside by the high court which replaced the option of fine with a jail term.

 

Dissatisfied, Fiberesima had filed an appeal through her lawyer, Mr Nnaemeka Amaechina, urging the court to set aside the five-year sentence.

 

Delivering judgment on Friday, the appellate court dismissed Fiberisima’s appeal and affirmed the decision of the Lagos High Court. In a unanimous decision delivered by Justice Jamilu Yammama Tukur, the court held that the trial Magistrate Court lacked the discretion to have granted Ibinabo an option of fine having been convicted.

 

The court further held that the appeal lacked merit and consequently dismissed it. Other members of the panel are Justice U.I. Ndukwe-Anyanwu (presiding) and Justice Tijani Abubakar. It will be recalled that the appellate court had earlier ordered the appellant to appear before it when judgement was to be delivered.

 

Counsel to the appellant, Amaechina, said the judgment will be challenged at the Supreme Court, adding that a notice of appeal had already been filed. Justice Oluwayemi of the trial court had held that the magistrate exercised “judicial recklessness” when he gave the convict an option of fine. The court noted that the trial Magistrate must have misdirected himself based on the allocutus made by the counsel to the convict that she is a working mother.

 

Oluwayemi had held that Sections 28 of the Traffic Law under which the accused was convicted did not give an option of fine.

 

She held that “when a term of imprisonment is mandatory for an offence the court cannot and should not give an option of fine.” She insisted that the fine did not serve the purpose of justice in the case and subsequently ordered that the N100, 000 be returned to the appellant.

 

Credit : Vanguard

American Clerk Who Denied Gay Couples Marriage Licenses Gets Jail Term

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U.S. District Judge David Bunning is holding Kim Davis, the Kentucky clerk who said she has God’s authority to deny gay people their constitutional right to get married — in contempt of court. ?She will remain in jail “until she complies or instructs staff to start issuing licenses,” reports WSAZ’s Dan Griffin.

 Three U.S. Marshals? reportedly escorted Davis away Thursday afternoon. USA Today reports that Bunning, who had ordered Davis to process marriage licenses for same-sex couples in a previous hearing, said that a fine wouldn’t be enough to force her to comply with the ruling. Davis, who believes that issuing same-sex couples marriage certificates “conflicts with God’s definition of marriage?” and violates her First Amendment rights, has become a symbol for religious freedom among right-wingers that include GOP presidential candidates Bobby Jindal and Mike Huckabee. 

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