From Blessing Ibunge, Port Harcourt
A federal High Court in Port Harcourt has sentenced one Anaero Chimecha David to three years imprisonment over fakeShell Petroleum Development Company job offer.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC Port Harcourt Zonal Office, had filed a six- count charge, against the convict, accessing of obtaining the sum of N175,000.00 from his victim under the pretext of helping her secure employment with the Shell Petroluem Development Company, SPDC.
One of the counts reads, “That you, Anaero Chimecha David and others now at large sometime in January 2019 at Port Harcourt Judicial Division did with intent to defraud, obtained the sum of One Hundred and Seventy Five Thousand Naira only (N175,000.00) from one Miss Obulor Juliet Huoma under the false pretence that you will offer her a job with Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) under a scheme you coined “special internal recruitment for indigenous candidates of members of staff”, a representation you knew to be false and thereby committed an offence, contrary to section 1(i)(a) of Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006 and punishable under section 1(3) of the same Act”.
David who was arraigned on October 15, 2019, pleaded “not guilty” to the six count charge against him. But in the course of trial, he opted to change his plea to “guilty”, thereby paving way for his conviction.
Defence counsel, M.N Ikechukwu Agwu pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy since the convict is a first offender without any previous conviction record.
The prosecuting counsel, Okorie Celestina did not object to the plea.
In his ruling, the Judge, Justice A.T Mohammed sentenced the defendant (David) to 3 years imprisonment.
