A High Court sitting in Ibadan, Oyo State, has sentenced Olaniyan Gbenga Amos, founder of Detorrid Heritage Investment Limited, to 63 years in prison for defrauding multiple investors through a fake investment scheme.
Justice Olusola Adetujoye delivered the judgment on Monday, convicting Amos on nine out of 30 counts of obtaining money under false pretences. The charges were filed by the Ibadan Zonal Office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
According to the EFCC, Amos lured unsuspecting individuals to invest in a phony platform, Crime Alert Security Network, with a promise of a 30% return on investment within six weeks. Victims reportedly lost more than ₦1 billion to the scam.
One of the charges revealed that Amos obtained ₦995,000 from a victim under the guise of registration and investment. Another charge involved a similar fraud of ₦920,000.
Amos had pleaded not guilty, but after the prosecution presented eight witnesses and numerous exhibits between 2022 and early 2023, the court dismissed his “no case” submission and ordered him to open his defence.
Justice Adetujoye sentenced him to seven years on each of the nine counts, to run concurrently. He was acquitted on 21 other counts and ordered to pay restitution to his victims.
This is not Amos’ first conviction. In December 2023, Justice Bayo Taiwo of the same Oyo State High Court sentenced him to 75 years for a related offence. He also has two other pending fraud cases before Federal High Courts in Ibadan.
His arrest in 2021 followed widespread complaints of fraudulent activities disguised as investment opportunities.
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