A man, Mike Atelemo has been sentenced to seven years' imprisonment by an Ondo State High Court Sitting in Akure, for defrauding some persons at Ode-Irele in the Irele Local Government Area of the state.
He was said to have defrauded his victims between June 2017 and May 2018, collecting a sum of N42.4m from them under false pretences.
The money was obtained from the victims under the guise to help them invest in a "Federal Government Empowerment Scheme" with huge returns at the end of the month.
Atelemo after duping the victims,
fled to Delta State.
He was later arrested and charged after the complainants petitioned the Department of State Services.
He was arraigned in February 2019 on 14 counts bordering on conspiracy, obtaining money under false pretences and impersonation but pleaded not guilty to the charges.
12 witnesses were called and they narrated how they were paid interest on their first investment but lost all their money when they decided to "invest big."
Justice Samuel Bola in his judgment, said the convict admitted obtaining the money from the complainants with the claim of operating a cooperative society.
He sentenced Atelemo to seven years' imprisonment for conspiracy, seven years for obtaining money under false pretences and three years for impersonation
