Justice Olusola Adetujoye of the Oyo State High Court sitting in Ibadan, on Monday, April 28, convicted and sentenced Olaniyan Gbenga Amos a.k.a Crime Alert, to 63 years in prison for multiple investment fraud.
The Crime Alert boss was convicted alongside his firm, Detorrid Heritage Investment Limited.
He and his firm were prosecuted by the Ibadan Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a 30-count charge which bordered on obtaining by false pretences, an offence contrary to Section 1(1) (a) and punishable under Section 1(3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act 2006.
Count 21 of the charge read: “That you Olaniyan Gbenga Amos and Detorrid Heritage Investment Limited on or about 18th of June, 2020, at Ibadan, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, with intent to defraud obtained the sum of N995,000.00 (Nine Hundred and Ninety-five Thousand Naira) only from Bada Titilope, when you falsely represented to him that the money was meant for registration and investment with Crime Alert Security Network with a promise of 30 percent return on investment in six weeks (30 working days), which representations you knew to be false and thereby committed an offence of obtaining money under false pretence contrary to Section 1(1) (a) and punishable under Section 1(3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act 2006.”
Another Charge read: “That you Olaniyan Gbenga Amos and Detorrid Heritage Investment Limited on or about 29th of January, 2020, at Ibadan, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, with intent to defraud obtained the sum of N920,000.00 (Nine Hundred and Twenty Thousand Naira) only from Onifade Isaac Olawale, when you falsely represented to him that the money was meant for registration and investment with Crime Alert Security Network with a promise of 30 percent return on investment in six weeks (30 working days), which representations you knew to be false and thereby committed an offence of obtaining money under false pretence contrary to Section 1(1) (a) and punishable under Section 1(3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act 2006.”
The defendant pleaded not guilty when the charges were read to him.
Following his plea, the EFCC counsel, Sanusi Galadanchi, opened the case on February 17, 2022 and called eight witnesses, tendered several exhibits that were marked “Exhibits A to H” and closed the case on January 24, 2023.
At the end of the prosecution case, the defendant filed a “no case submission” which was thrown out by the court.
He was ordered to enter his defence which he subsequently opened.
The first defendant testified for himself and on behalf of the 2nd defendant as a lone witness, and the case was closed on October 17, 2024.
The court, after the presentation of the defendants’ case, adopted the final written addresses of both parties and judgment was reserved for April 28, 2025.
At the resumption of the trial on Monday, Justice Adetujoye convicted and sentenced Amos to seven years imprisonment on each count of 6, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23 and 24 but discharged and acquitted the defendant on counts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 20, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 and 30 respectively.
Furthermore, the court ordered that the sentence should run concurrently and the convict must make restitution to the victims.
It will be recalled that Amos was convicted and sentenced to 75 years imprisonment by Justice Bayo Taiwo of the Oyo State High Court, Ibadan for similar offence on December 14, 2023.
The convict has two other ongoing trials before Federal High Courts in Ibadan, Oyo State.
The journey by the convict to the Correctional Centre began when he was arrested and arraigned before Justice Olusola Adetujoye on December 14, 2021 by the EFCC.
He was reported to have swindled several individuals in the pretext of investment that led to the loss of money over N1 billion by investors.
