Justice Lekan Ogunmoye of the Ekiti State High Court, Ado-Ekiti, has sentenced Bethel Onyedikachi Ukachukwu to two years’ imprisonment for defrauding a man of ₦500,000 in a fake Nigeria Customs Service vehicle auction scam.
Ukachukwu was prosecuted by the Ekiti Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a three-count amended charge bordering on obtaining by false pretence and fraudulent conversion.
The EFCC told the court that the convict collected ₦500,000 from Kayode Aina Samuel on April 15, 2026, under the false claim that he would use the money to secure an auctioned vehicle through the Nigeria Customs Service.
One of the charges stated that the defendant obtained the money through false pretence, while another accused him of dishonestly converting the funds entrusted to him for the purchase of a vehicle to his personal use.
Ukachukwu pleaded guilty to the charges.
Following the guilty plea, prosecution counsel Saidu Yusuf called the commission’s first witness, Emmanuel Onuminya, and tendered documentary evidence, which the court admitted as exhibits.
Defence counsel T.A. Salami appealed for leniency, informing the court that the convict had shown remorse and made restitution to the petitioner.
In his judgment, Justice Ogunmoye convicted Ukachukwu and sentenced him to two years’ imprisonment with an option of a ₦150,000 fine.
The EFCC said the convict falsely presented himself as a Lieutenant in the Nigerian Army to gain the victim’s confidence before collecting the money under the pretext of securing a vehicle through a Nigeria Customs Service auction.
The promised vehicle was never delivered, prompting the victim to petition the EFCC, which led to the suspect’s arrest, prosecution and eventual conviction.
