Two victims of visa procurement scam have smoked out the man who took N4.2m from them and absconded without fulfilling his own part of the bargain.
Speaking at the trial, Prosecutor Leo said that on January 24th, 40-year-old travel agent, Olalekan Yusuf, obtained N2.1m each from the duo of Sarah Thomas and Christian Gabriel on the pretext that he was a travel agent and could assist them in securing visa to the U.S. and Dubai.
“The defendant approached the complainants claiming he was a travel agent when he heard that they needed an agent to help them process a U.S. and Dubai visa.
“After collecting the money from the complainants, he absconded to an unknown destination.
“Efforts made by the complainants to get the visa or retrieve his money from the defendant proved unsuccessful, as the defendant refused to pick calls from the complainants’ cell phone,” Leo said.
He added that the defendant was arrested on June 16 at his house after the complainants got his address from his friend.
The prosecutor said that the offences violated the Penal Code of Kaduna State, 2017.
Consequently, a Kaduna Chief Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday sentenced Yusuf to 18 months’ imprisonment for the N4.2m visa fraud.
The Magistrate, Ibrahim Emmanuel, sentenced Yusuf after he pleaded guilty to the offence and begged for leniency.
He, however, gave him an option of N200,000 fine and ordered him to restitute N4.1m to the complainants
The magistrate further ordered that, should the convict fail to restitute the money, he shall serve additional one-year prison term.
Yusuf, a resident of Malali, Kaduna, had stood trial for fraud. The prosecutor told the court that the matter was reported at the Gabasawa Police Station, Kaduna, on June 16. (NAN)
