Justice Peter Kekemeke of the FCT High Court on Tuesday sentenced Mohammed Momoh, a fake EFCC investigator, to seven years imprisonment for defrauding Mario Al-Makura, the wife of the former governor of Nasarawa.
The judge sentenced Mr Momoh based on the charge preferred against him by EFCC bordering on false pretences.
Mr Kekemeke sentenced Mr Momoh after listening to allocutus by his counsel, Godwin Omagbogu, on his behalf.
Mr Omagbogu had pleaded for leniency on behalf of his client, saying he was a first-time offender, the father of three children, and a young wife.
The prosecution counsel, Diana Nkwap, urged the court to use its discretion in sentencing.
The judge held that the punishment under which the defendant is charged attracts 20 years imprisonment maximum and seven years minimum.
However, Mr Kekemeke held that the convict is sentenced to seven years imprisonment because he must do what the law stipulates.
On February 27, the judge convicted Momoh when he held that the prosecution proved its case beyond the reasonable doubt to warrant them having the judgment in their favour after calling three witnesses.
Mr Momoh was arrested in December 2017 by EFCC operatives for attempting to defraud Ms Al-Makura.
The EFCC alleged that the suspect, while posing as a private investigator from the “Villa,” approached the governor’s wife with a proposal to help stop a purported investigation of two accounts belonging to the governor.
The anti-graft agency said Mr Momoh claimed he found information regarding the two accounts in 2011.
The EFCC said the defendant requested N8 million but was offered N6 million. Then, the ex-governor’s family contacted the EFCC and were asked to play along with the defendant.
The defendant was arrested during a sting operation after he collected a marked N2 million from Ms Al-Makura.
(NAN)