Ikemesit Edet, the owner of the auto Cybercrime Training Centre, commonly referred to as Hustle Kingdom, has received a ten-year prison sentence for fraud. The auto Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) brought Edet to court on charges including imprisonment, romance scams, social media accounts hacking/editing, and private criminal tutoring. Following his guilty plea, Edet was sentenced on Wednesday, with the option of a N2,000,000 fine for each count.
The charges are ; “That you IKEMESIT EDET IK sometimes in January 2024 I. Nigeria within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, being the occupier and a person concerned with the management of the premises situated and lying at No. 57 D-Line, did knowingly permit the use of the entire aforesaid premises as a CYBERCRIME ACADEMY, also known as HUSTLE KINGDOM (HK) where you recruited ten (10) young Nigerians between ages 16-25 and taught them cybercrime techniques for perpetuating cyber crimes to wit: hacking, impersonation, and obtaining money by false pretense (Advance Fee Fraud) and thereby committed an offense contrary to section 3 of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offenses Act 2006 and punishable under Section 3 of the the same Act.”
”That you IKEMESIT EDET IK between May 2020 and December 2023 in Nigeria within the jurisdiction of this Honorable court did take possession total sum of Fifteen Million Naira Only (N15,000,000.00) which you knew forms proceed of an unlawful act to wit: Cybercrime and thereby committed an offense contrary to Section 18(2)(d) of the Money laundering (Prohibition) Act 2022 and punishment under Section 18(3) of the same Act.”
The prosecution counsel, Joshua Abolarin, urged the court to convict and sentence Edet following his guilty plea, also requesting the forfeiture of all recovered exhibits. Conversely, the defense counsel, Francis Ezike, appealed for leniency in sentencing. Justice Ojukwu ruled in favor of the prosecution, sentencing Edet to five years in prison for each count, with an option of a N,200,000 fine per count. Additionally, Ojukwu ordered the forfeiture of all seized exhibits, including 13 laptops, a gold-colored Toyota Corolla, a Lexus JeepRX 300, and approximately 3,080.25 square meters of land located in Ibiaku Obio Ndobo Village, Uruan Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, to the Federal Government of Nigeria .