RismadarVoice Reporters, August 4, 2026
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has secured the conviction of Bethel Onyedikachi Ukachukwu for defrauding a victim of ₦500,000 under the guise of procuring an auctioned vehicle from the Nigeria Customs Service.
Justice Lekan Ogunmoye of the Ekiti State High Court, sitting in Ado-Ekiti, sentenced the convict to two years’ imprisonment after he pleaded guilty to a three-count amended charge bordering on obtaining by false pretence and fraudulent conversion.
The EFCC, through its Ekiti Zonal Directorate, told the court that Ukachukwu fraudulently obtained ₦500,000 from Mr Kayode Aina Samuel on April 15, 2026, by falsely claiming he would use the money to secure an auctioned vehicle through the Nigeria Customs Service.
The anti-graft agency further accused the convict of dishonestly converting the money to his personal use instead of purchasing the vehicle as agreed.
Following the defendant’s guilty plea, prosecuting counsel, Saidu Yusuf, called an EFCC investigator, Emmanuel Onuminya, as the sole prosecution witness and tendered documentary evidence, all of which were admitted by the court.
Yusuf thereafter urged the court to convict the defendant in line with the provisions of the law.
In his plea for leniency, defence counsel, T.A. Salami, informed the court that the defendant was remorseful and had refunded the victim’s money, urging the judge to temper justice with mercy.
Delivering judgment, Justice Ogunmoye convicted Ukachukwu and sentenced him to two years in prison with an option of a ₦150,000 fine.
The court heard that the convict also falsely presented himself as a Lieutenant in the Nigerian Army to gain the confidence of his victim before perpetrating the fraud.
The EFCC said Ukachukwu neither delivered the promised vehicle nor refunded the money until investigations commenced, leading to his arrest, prosecution and eventual conviction. He has been remanded at the Ado-Ekiti Correctional Centre.
