The Ekiti State High Court in Ado-Ekiti has sentenced Bethel Onyekachi Ukachukwu to two years imprisonment for defrauding a man of N500,000 under the guise of securing an auctioned vehicle.
Justice Lekan Ogunmoye delivered the judgment on Tuesday, July 28, 2026, after the defendant pleaded guilty to a three-count amended charge relating to obtaining money by false pretence.
The case was prosecuted by the Ekiti Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
According to a statement by the EFCC Head of Media and Publicity, Dele Oyewale, the convict collected N500,000 from one Kayode Aina Samuel on April 15, 2026, with the claim that the money would be used to bid for a vehicle being auctioned by the Nigeria Customs Service on his behalf.
Investigations revealed that the convict neither secured the vehicle nor returned the money to the petitioner, leading to the petition and subsequent arrest by the anti-graft agency.
One of the charges stated that the defendant obtained the money with intent to defraud, knowing that his claim about securing the auctioned car was untrue. Another count accused him of dishonestly converting the sum entrusted to him for a specific purpose to personal use.
The anti-graft agency told the court that Ukachukwu had been remanded at the Ado-Ekiti Correctional Centre before his conviction, having failed to deliver the vehicle and not initially refunded the money.
Following his guilty plea, prosecution counsel Saidu Yusuf presented a witness, Emmanuel Onuminya, and tendered exhibits as evidence before the court. The exhibits were admitted, after which the prosecution asked the court to convict the defendant in line with the evidence.
Counsel to the defendant, T.A. Salami, appealed to the court to show leniency, stating that his client had shown remorse and had already refunded the money to the victim before sentencing.
In his ruling, Justice Ogunmoye sentenced Ukachukwu to two years imprisonment with an option of a N150,000 fine, convicting him on charges bordering on obtaining by false pretence and dishonest conversion.
The EFCC also disclosed that the convict had falsely presented himself as a Lieutenant in the Nigerian Army to carry out the act, using the fake military identity to gain the trust of the victim.
Checks by DailyVista247 show that the convict posed as a serving officer to defraud unsuspecting members of the public seeking to benefit from government auction sales, a trend the commission warned against.
The commission urged members of the public to verify claims of auction sales through official channels of the Nigeria Customs Service and not to pay money to individuals claiming to facilitate such transactions.
