By Adedapo Adesanya
A TikTok music celebrity, Mr Crown Uzama, popularly known as Shalli Popi, and five others have been convicted of Internet fraud.
The six men were charged before Justice A. A. Isiakaon by the Kaduna Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a separate one-count charge bordering on criminal impersonation, offences contrary to Sections 142 (1), 57 and 308 of the Kaduna Penal Code Law, 2017 and punishable under Section 309 of the same law.
Mr Uzama (aka Shalli Popi and Miller Maxwell) was convicted alongside Mr Joel Kator (aka Alfred Hudson), Mr Abdul-Azeez Suleiman Temidayo (aka Miss Katie Official), Mr Favour Chidiogo Emmanuel (aka Kate Banks), Mr John Joseph (aka Avail Hollywood) and Mr Bethel Makuochukwu (aka Violetqmartinez).
It was disclosed that Mr Makuochukwu had two weeks earlier been convicted for money laundering.
They all pleaded guilty to the charges preferred against them.
Consequently, the prosecuting counsel, M. E. Eimonye, M. Arumeni, M. U. Gadaka and K.S Ogunlade, urged the court to convict them accordingly.
Justice Isiaka convicted and sentenced the Elon Musk and Sharpiru crooner and the other five defendants to two years imprisonment, each with the option of fines.
In addition, they are to forfeit all electronic gadgets, furniture and other items recovered from them to the Federal Government of Nigeria.
The defendants were arrested at various locations in Kaduna upon intelligence received by the command.
The investigation established they had impersonated foreign nationals and used false identities to defraud unsuspecting victims.
