Justice J. K. Omotosho of the Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, has convicted and sentenced two brothers, Otojareri Governor Lucky (a.k.a Sam Lewis) and Otojareri President Mayor (a.k.a John Jacob Carison) to five years imprisonment for obtaining money under false pretences contrary to Section 1(1)(a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006 and punishable under Section 1(3) of the same Act.
Lucky and Mayor were arraigned by the Port Harcourt Zonal office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Thursday, October 25, 2019 on one-count charge bordering on obtaining the sum of $788.00 under false pretences.
The count reads: “That you Otojareri Governor Lucky “M” (a.k.a) Sam Lewis and Otojareri President Mayor “M” (a.k.a) John Jacob Carison between the 8th of May, 2016, and 9th July, 2016 at Port Harcourt, Rivers State within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court with intent to defraud did obtain the sum of Seven Hundred and Eighty-Eight 788.00 (USD) through Moneygram transfer from one John Carison and Jean Rivera under the pretence that the said sum is an advance fee for the processing of a loan from Norton Finance Loans, Springfield, United Kingdom, a pretext you knew to be false and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 1(1)(a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006 and Punishable under Section 1(3) of the same Act.They both pleaded guilty to the one-count charge preferred against them by the EFCC.
Justice Omotosho subsequently sentenced them to five years imprisonment with an option of fine of N100,000 (One Hundred Thousand Naira only). The sentence runs concurrently.
Lucky and Mayor bagged prison terms by fraudulently representing themselves as staff of Norton Finance, Springfield, United Kingdom to one John Carison, a United States citizen with a promise to assist him in getting loans from the company.
EFCC’s investigation showed that Lucky and Mayor belonged to a syndicate of fraudsters who specialized in luring their victims into all kinds of phony deals in order to defraud them of their hard -earned money.