Justice Lekan Ogunmoye of the Ekiti State High Court, sitting in Ado-Ekiti, on Tuesday, July 28, 2026, convicted and sentenced one Bethel Onyedikachi Ukachukwu to two years’ imprisonment for car auction fraud.
The convict was arraigned 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.
Specifically, he obtained the sum of Five Hundred Thousand Naira (₦500,000.00) from Mr. Kayode Aina Samuel under the false pretence that he would secure a bid for an auctioned vehicle through the Nigeria Customs Service.
Count One reads: “That you, Bethel Onyedikachi Ukachukwu, sometime on 15th April, 2026, at Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, with intent to defraud, obtained the total sum of Five Hundred Thousand Naira Only (₦500,000.00) from one Kayode Aina Samuel under the pretence that you would use the money to bid for an auctioned vehicle for him through the Nigeria Customs Service, which pretence you knew to be false, thereby committing an offence contrary to Sections 1(1)(b) and 1(3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006.”
Count Two reads: “That you, Bethel Onyedikachi Ukachukwu, on or about the 15th day of April, 2026, at Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, dishonestly converted to your own use the sum of Five Hundred Thousand Naira Only (₦500,000.00), being the property of Mr. Kayode Aina Samuel, which was entrusted to you for the specific purpose of purchasing a motor vehicle on his behalf, and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 295(2)(f) and punishable under Section 302(1) of the Criminal Law of Ekiti State, 2021.”
Following the defendant’s guilty plea, prosecution counsel, Saidu Yusuf, called the first prosecution witness (PW1), Emmanuel Onuminya, and tendered all the exhibits and evidence against the defendant. The court admitted the exhibits in evidence, after which the prosecution counsel urged the court to convict the defendant accordingly.
Defence counsel, T.A. Salami, pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy, informing the court that the convict was remorseful for his actions and had made restitution to the petitioner.
Justice Ogunmoye thereafter convicted and sentenced the defendant to two years’ imprisonment, with an option of a fine of One Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira (₦150,000.00).
The convict’s journey to the Correctional Centre began when he falsely presented himself as a Lieutenant in the Nigerian Army and fraudulently obtained the sum of Five Hundred Thousand Naira (₦500,000.00) from the petitioner under the pretence of securing a vehicle for him. However, he neither delivered the vehicle nor refunded the money. He has since been remanded at the Ado-Ekiti Correctional Centre.
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