A Lagos High Court, sitting in Ikeja, on Tuesday sentenced a self-acclaimed pharmacist, Liasu Assane, to three months imprisonment for swindling a Japanese national, Takehiko Arima, of 3,420 US dollars (about N547,200).
Justice Adeniyi Onigbanjo convicted 22-year-old Asanne after he pleaded guilty to the charge.
The judge said the sentence would commence from Sept.7 when Assane was first arraigned on a one-count charge of obtaining money by false pretences.
The convict had entered into a plea bargain deal with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and had fully repaid the money he collected from his victim.
EFCC counsel, Mr Anselem Ozioko, said Asanne, who claimed to be the Managing Director of Novial Pharmacy, had committed the offence on Aug. 13 in Lagos.
Ozioko said that the convict had fraudulently obtained the money using a website, “Ali Baba,” where he claimed that he was a supplier of dosimeter products.
He said Assane had collected the money, claiming that it was a down payment for the supply of the products which are used to keep records of exposure to radioactive substances.
Ozioko said the money was paid by the victim through a Bank PHB Plc account, No: 3590021023, and?the convict did not supply the products.
He said that Assane's offences had contravened Section 419 of the Criminal Code, Laws of Lagos State of Nigeria, 2003. (NAN)