Posted by By OLA AGBAJE on
Lagos socialite and fraudster, Alumile Adedeji (aka Ade Bendel) has been sentenced to six years imprisonment after a five-year trial.
Lagos socialite and fraudster, Alumile Adedeji (aka Ade Bendel) has been sentenced to six years imprisonment after a five-year trial.
Justice Mufutau Olokooba of Lagos High Court handed down the sentence to the businessman who pleaded guilty to the new charges preferred against him.
Ade-Bendel was found guilty of defrauding a retired Egyptian army officer, Gen. Ali Abel-Azim Attia to the tune of $200,000 through a hoax business packaged by him.
Before passing the sentence on the convict, Justice Olokooba expressed disgust at the conduct of the perpetrators of Advance Fee Fraud, which he noted has caused the nation international embarrassment.
The judge said: 'The offence committed by the accused is an international embarrassment to the country, which the court will not have mercy for.
'This will serve as a deterrent to the present and future generation. The full weight of the law must be given and noting short of that will be at this juncture.
'I hereby sentence the accused to six years imprisonment, which shall take effect from the date he was remanded in prison custody by the court."
With this pronouncements, the court sealed the fate of the flamboyant socialite and businessman. He however, will regain his freedom this week as he has been in detention since 2003, while his first arraignment was on May 30, 2003.
Ade-Bendel was arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) operatives in 2003, following a petition forwarded to the body by General Attia.
EFCC prosecutor, Wemimo Ogunde, has been pressing the commission's case against Ade-Bendel, who was identified by Attia in the court as one of the fraudsters that defrauded him.
His partner in crime, one Olufemi Ayeni, disappeared when the EFCC operatives swooped on him.
Attia had claimed that he met Ade-Bendel in Saudi Arabia and that he had no reason to suspect him of any foul play, since according to him: 'I thought I was dealing with a Muslim brother."
Before the court's verdict on Ade-Bendel, his counsel, Olalekan Ojo made a strong allocutus, praying the court for leniency in its sentence.
Ojo reminded the court that before the present case, Ade Bendel was not known to have committed any crime here in Nigeria and abroad.
Ojo stated: 'The accused is without a previous conviction. He is a young man of 41 years with a wife and children, who are going to school.
'the accused has made full restitution by paying the firm of $200,000, representing the amount collected from the victim of the crime. Finally, the plea of guilt entered by the accused should be taken into consideration by the court in determining the sentence to be passed on the accused person, who has been in custody since May 2003.
'It is important that the accused be given the opportunity of full rehabilitation to the society. The circumstance of the case is seven years. Where there is no previous conviction, the judge ought not to impose the maximum sentence."