Fake Spiritualist Busted: Nigerian Man Gets 1 Year in Prison for Defrauding Victims
A 23-year-old man, Odeyemi Hammed Oluwaseun, has been sentenced to one year in prison for defrauding victims online by posing as an American-based female spiritualist.
He claimed to have the ability to help jilted women and estranged wives regain the affection of their partners.
Oluwaseun was convicted and sentenced by Justice Mahmud Abdulgafar of the Kwara State High Court in Ilorin.
He was prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on two counts of internet fraud, impersonation, and obtaining money by false pretences.
Oluwaseun was accused of duping one victim, identified as Bose, out of $3,200, and another victim, Schneider Alina, out of $4,500. He posed as a spiritualist named Lord Hill to deceive these women, promising to use his spiritual powers to help restore their relationships.
The first charge states: “That you, Odeyemi Hammed Oluwaseun, sometime in December 2023 in Ilorin, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, dishonestly induced one Bose to send $3,200 worth of gift cards to you, under the impression that they would be used to spiritually influence her ex-husband to return and marry her, while you pretended to be Lord Hill, a female spiritualist with the email account hillor674@gmail.com. You thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 321 of the Penal Code and punishable under Section 324 of the same Penal Code.”
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The second charge states: “That you, Odeyemi Hammed Oluwaseun, between August 2023 and September 2023 in Ilorin, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, dishonestly induced one Schneider Alina to send $4,500 worth of gift cards to you, with the impression that they would be used to spiritually control her ex-boyfriend to return and marry her, while you represented yourself as a female spiritualist with the Instagram account _Visions_by_Tendo_12. You thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 321 of the Penal Code and punishable under Section 324 of the same Penal Code.”
Oluwaseun pleaded guilty to the charges when they were read to him.
Following this, prosecution counsel Susan Ola reviewed the facts of the case, presented the convict’s extra-judicial statements, and provided evidence, including the recovery of $1,000 (One Thousand United States Dollars) from him.
She requested that the court convict and sentence him as charged.
Convinced that the prosecution had proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt, Justice Abdulgafar sentenced Oluwaseun to a six-month suspended jail term on each count.
Additionally, he ordered that the $1,000, an iPhone 15, and a 2008 Toyota Camry recovered from Oluwaseun be forfeited to the federal government.
