Fraudster Olaniyan Amos of Ibadan was sentenced to 75 years in prison.

Olaniyan Gbenga Amos, a well-known scammer, was given a sentence of 75 years in prison by the Oyo State High Court in Ibadan for multiple investment fraud.

Following a 35-count charge brought by the Ibadan Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which bordered on obtaining by false pretences and was punishable under Section 1(3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act 2006, Amos and his company, Detorrid Heritage Investment Limited, were found guilty.

On December 14, 2021, the EFCC arrested and charged Amos in front of Justice Bayo Taiwo for defrauding multiple people through fraudulent investment schemes that caused investors to lose over N1 billion in money.

Amos intentionally broke his promises to his investors by not paying the agreed-upon “Return on Investment” to those who invested in “Crime Alert Security Network,” a security investment programme run by his company, according to the charges brought against him in court.

When the charges were read to him at the start of the trial on February 17, 2022, the defendant entered a plea of “not guilty.”

Sanusi Galadanchi, the EFCC Counsel, opened the case on February 17, 2022, in response to his plea. He then called six witnesses, tendered eight exhibits, and closed it on January 24, 2023.

Upon the conclusion of the prosecution’s case, the defendant submitted a “no case submission,” which the court rejected. As a result, the defendant called three witnesses to testify both in opening and closing. Justice Taiwo then postponed making a decision on the case until December 14, 2023.

Upon the trial’s resumption on Thursday, December 14, 2023, Justice Bayo Taiwo found the defendant guilty on counts 27, 32, 33, 34, and 35 and sentenced him to fifteen (15) years in prison for each of those counts. However, the defendant was found not guilty on counts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9; 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19; 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30 and 31.

In addition, the court mandated that the defendant return the victims and serve the sentence concurrently.

In Ibadan, Oyo State, Amos is currently facing three more trials in Federal and State High Courts.

The following is stated in count 35 of the charge: “That on or about February 20, 2020, in Ibadan, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, you Olaniyan Gbenga Amos and Detorrid Heritage Investment Limited, with intent to defraud, obtained the sum of N1,540,000 (one million, five hundred and forty thousand only) from Akinlabi Qasim Dada, 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% return on investment in six weeks (30 working days).” You thus committed an offence of obtaining money under false pretence, which is punishable under Section 1(3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related to Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act 2006.

That on or about August 27, 2020, in Ibadan, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, you, OLANIYAN GBENGA AMOS and DETORRID HERITAGE INVESTMENT LIMITED, obtained N170,000 (one hundred and seventy thousand Naira) from Alhaji Mukaila Odunayo with the intent to defraud, by falsely representing to him that the money is meant for registration and investment with Crime Alert Security Network with a promise of 30% return on investment in six weeks (30 working days). You knew these representations to be false, and as a result, you committed an offence against the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act 2006, which is punishable under Section 1(3).