Repeat Investment Scam Offender Sentenced to 63 Years in Ibadan

On Monday, April 28, 2025, Justice Olusola Adetujoye of the Oyo State High Court in Ibadan convicted and sentenced Olaniyan Gbenga Amos to 63 years in prison for multiple counts of investment fraud. He was found guilty in conjunction with his company, Detorrid Heritage Investment Limited.

The prosecution, led by the Ibadan Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), presented 30 charges against them, relating to obtaining money under false pretenses, an offense in violation of Section 1(1)(a) and punishable under Section 1(3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act of 2006. One of the charges states: "That you, Olaniyan Gbenga Amos, and Detorrid Heritage Investment Limited, on or around June 18, 2020, in Ibadan, with intent to defraud, obtained N995,000 (Nine Hundred and Ninety-five Thousand Naira) from Bada Titilope by falsely claiming that the funds were for registration and investment with Crime Alert Security Network, promising a 30% return on investment within six weeks (30 working days), knowing the representation to be untrue, thus committing the offense of obtaining money by false pretenses in violation of the law.

" Another charge details: "That you, Olaniyan Gbenga Amos, and Detorrid Heritage Investment Limited, on or about January 29, 2020, in Ibadan, with intent to defraud, acquired N920,000 (Nine Hundred and Twenty Thousand Naira) from Onifade Isaac Olawale, under the false pretense that the funds were intended for registration and investment with Crime Alert Security Network, with a promise of a 30% return on investment within six weeks (30 working days), while knowing the representation was false, thereby violating the law against obtaining money under false pretenses." The defendant pleaded not guilty to the charges when they were presented. Following his plea, EFCC Counsel Sanusi Galadanchi initiated the case on February 17, 2022, bringing forth eight witnesses and submitting various exhibits, which were labeled "Exhibits A to H," concluding the case on January 24, 2023. After the prosecution's case concluded, the defendant filed a "no case submission," which was rejected, leading the court to require the defendant to present his defense.

The defendant finally presented and closed his case on October 17, 2024, where he provided testimony on his own behalf and that of the second defendant as the sole witness. Once both parties had submitted their final written addresses, the court reserved judgment until April 28, 2025. At the trial's resumption on April 28, 2025, Justice Adetujoye sentenced Amos to seven years for counts 6, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23, and 24, while he was acquitted on counts 1 through 5 and 7 through 30. The court mandated that the sentences run concurrently and that the convict must make restitution to the victims. In a previous case, Amos was sentenced to 75 years in prison by Justice Bayo Taiwo of the Oyo State High Court in Ibadan for a similar offense on December 14, 2023. He is also facing two additional ongoing trials before Federal High Courts in Ibadan, Oyo State.