Kwara Fashion Designer Sentenced to One-Year Jail Term for EFCC Investigator Impersonation

• A 27-year-old fashion designer, Haruna Musa Tolani, has been sentenced to one year in prison for impersonating an EFCC officer and defrauding him of ₦20,000 via a USSD transaction
• The court found him guilty of cybercrime and ordered the restitution of the stolen amount alongside the forfeiture of a ₦200,000 manager’s cheque to the victim
• Justice Abimbola Awogboro gave the ruling at the Federal High Court in Ilorin, with an option of a ₦200,000 fine

A Federal High Court sitting in Ilorin, Kwara State, has sentenced a 27-year-old tailor, Haruna Musa Tolani, to one year in prison for impersonating an official of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and fraudulently obtaining data worth ₦20,000 through a deceptive USSD transaction.

The conviction was handed down by Justice Abimbola Awogboro, following Tolani’s guilty plea to a two-count charge of impersonation and cybercrime.

Kwara tailor initially denied wrongdoing

Initially arraigned on January 28, 2025, Tolani denied the charges but later reversed his plea after the EFCC presented compelling evidence, leading to his conviction.

The case stemmed from an incident in August 2024, during which Tolani impersonated Callistus Egwuonwu, an EFCC investigator, and used his identity to access and use funds from Egwuonwu’s bank account.

Through an unstructured supplementary service data (USSD) transaction on Access Bank's platform, he fraudulently purchased MTN data worth ₦20,000.

One of the charges stated that Tolani "with intent to defraud, misrepresented himself via electronic message sent through USSD to Access Bank Plc. with respect to account number 0022643389, property of Mr Callistus Egwuonwu," an action which resulted in a financial loss to the victim.

Another count noted that the defendant "fraudulently impersonated one Callistus Egwuonwu via USSD to Access Bank Plc... with the intention to purchase MTN data," in clear violation of Nigeria’s Cybercrime (Prohibition and Prevention) Act, 2015.

Court sentence tailor to jail

During the proceedings, EFCC’s legal representative, Sesan Ola, presented evidence detailing the fraudulent transaction, leading the court to pronounce Tolani guilty of the charges.

Justice Awogboro sentenced Tolani to 12 months in prison with the option of a ₦200,000 fine. The court also directed the forfeiture of a First Bank manager’s cheque of ₦200,000, to be paid to the victim.

Additionally, the convict was ordered to refund the ₦20,000 obtained through the fraudulent transaction.

The case is one of many cybercrime-related convictions being recorded by the EFCC in its continued efforts to clamp down on internet fraudsters operating across Nigeria.

According to the commission, impersonation of law enforcement officials to carry out fraud remains a troubling trend that undermines public trust and threatens national security.

EFCC set to go after “Yahoo boys” in Nigeria

Meanwhile, Legit.ng reported that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said it is ready to support the effort to combat internet scams.

This came after hundreds of fraudulent Nigerian Instagram and Facebook accounts were removed by Meta. The social media giant removed almost 63,000 fake accounts last summer because they were linked to the growing fraud issue.

Source: Legit.ng