Organiser of fake beauty contest bags 10 years imprisonment in Kaduna

Ogunleye Samson Oluwasola, a phony online beauty promoter, was given a ten-year prison term for deceit and taking advantage of false pretenses.

After entering a plea of guilty to a one-count charge against him that involved deception and obtaining money by false pretense, which was brought by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)’s Kaduna Zonal command, he was found guilty and given a sentence by Justice A. A. Isiaka of the Kaduna State High Court.

“That you Ogunleye Samson Oluwasola sometime in March 2023 in Kaduna, within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, fraudulently induced one Solomon Suzie to deliver to you the sum of N740,000.00 (Seven Hundred and Forty Thousand naira) for an online photo contest, a pretense which you knew to be false and you thereby committed the offence of cheating contrary to Section 306(a) and punishable under Section 307 of the Penal Code Law of Kaduna State, 2017.”

After the charge was read to him, he entered a plea of guilty. In light of his plea, M. Lawal, the prosecution’s attorney, asked the judge to find him guilty and impose the appropriate punishment.

Then, Samson was found guilty and given a 10-year prison term by Judge Isiaka. The federal government also received two iPhones, a 2011 Mercedes Benz E350, and a 2011 Toyota Camry XLE that he forfeited. He has also given the victim back N740,000.00 (seven hundred and forty thousand naira only).
Solomon Suzzie filed a petition with the EFCC, claiming to have seen a post about a beauty contest on WhatsApp and expressed interest. This was the start of Oluwasola’s journey to the Correctional Center. After she became a member of the group and started to participate, she was chosen to compete.

Even after the group administrator gave her an account, she continued to pay votes totaling N740,000.00, even though the winner had not yet been declared. Having been asked for additional money, she filed a petition with the EFCC, believing there was foul play.

Additionally, the investigation showed that the suspect—the sole proprietor in 2020—had created the entire “Online Photo Contest” scheme with the intention of defrauding the public of their money.