NIGERIA: Serial Investment Fraudster Sentenced to 63 Years in Prison by Oyo Court

By Ameenat Hamzat, Lagos, Nigeria

A notorious investment fraudster, Olaniyan Gbenga Amos, has been sentenced to 63 years in prison by Justice Olusola Adetujoye of the Oyo State High Court, sitting in Ibadan, after being found guilty of multiple counts of obtaining money under false pretences.

The Economic Financial Crime Commission confirmed on Monday in a statement on its official X (formerly Twitter) handle.

According to the statement, Amos, who was tried alongside his company, Detorrid Heritage Investment Limited, was prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on a 30-count charge, nine of which led to convictions.

The EFCC accused Amos of deceiving unsuspecting victims into investing their money in a fake investment scheme, Crime Alert Security Network, by promising a 30% return within six weeks.

One of the charges stated:

“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 is meant for registration and investment with Crime Alert Security Network with a promise of 30% return on Investment in 6 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.”

Despite initially pleading not guilty, the prosecution, led by EFCC counsel Sanusi Galadanchi, presented eight witnesses and submitted multiple exhibits marked Exhibits A to H. Amos later filed a “no case submission,” which was overruled, and he was ordered to open his defence, eventually testifying as the sole witness for both himself and his company.

The statement further stated that at the ruling on Monday, Justice Adetujoye sentenced Amos to seven years on each of counts 6, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23, and 24. While the sentences are to run concurrently, the court also mandated full restitution to the victims.

Amos was acquitted on 21 other counts, including counts 1–5, 7–15, and 20, among others.

It was further noted that this is not Amos’s first conviction. On December 14, 2023, he was handed a 75-year prison sentence by Justice Bayo Taiwo, also of the Oyo State High Court, for a similar scheme. He is also currently facing two additional fraud trials before the Federal High Court in Ibadan.