Fraud: Court sentences Crime Alert boss Olaniyan Gbenga to 75 years imprisonment

Olaniyan Gbenga Amos, the CEO of Crime Alert Security Network in Ibadan, was found guilty and given a 75-year prison sentence on Thursday for multiple investment frauds by Justice Bayo Taiwo of the Oyo State High Court, which was in session in Ibadan.

In a statement released on Tuesday, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission's Head of Media and Publicity, Dele Oyewale, stated that Olaniyan and his company, Detorrid Heritage Investment Limited, were found guilty on December 14, 2023.

According to reports, the Ibadan Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission prosecuted them on 35 counts of charges that were punishable under Section 1(3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act 2006 and bordered on obtaining money under false pretences, in violation of Section 1(1)(a).

The statement partly read, “Count 35 of the charge read: “That you, Olaniyan Gbenga Amos and Detorrid Heritage Investment Limited, on or about the 20th of February, 2020, at Ibadan, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, with intent to defraud obtained the sum of  N1,540,000 only from Akinlabi Qasim Dada, when you falsely represented to him that the money was meant for registration and investment with Crime Alert Security Network with a promise of 30% return on investment in six weeks (30 working days), which representation 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.”

“Another charge read, “That you, Olaniyan Gbenga Amos and Detorrid Heritage Investment Limited on or about 27th of August, 2020, at Ibadan, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, with intent to defraud, obtained the sum of  N170,000 only from Alhaji Mukaila Odunayo, when you falsely represented to him that the money was meant for registration and investment with Crime Alert Security Network with a promise of 30% return on Investment in six 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.”

After the charges were read to him, the defendants were reported to have entered a plea of "not guilty."

In light of his plea, Sanusi Galadanchi, the EFCC's attorney, began the case on February 17, 2022, called six witnesses, submitted eight exhibits, and on January 24, 2023, closed it.

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