A Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos, has convicted an 18-year-old internet fraud suspect, Hassan Usman Olamilekan, and ordered him to pay a total of N1.2 million after he admitted defrauding an American of $800 in a fake $250 million lottery scheme.
Justice Dipeolu delivered the judgment on October 30, 2026, after Olamilekan pleaded guilty to a one-count charge of money laundering filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The EFCC announced the conviction in a statement on Monday by its Head of Media and Publicity, Dele Oyewale.
According to the commission, Olamilekan posed as a white American woman, Julie Leach, on the Zangi messaging app to deceive his victim, Gary Brewer, a US citizen. He told Brewer he had won a $250 million lottery but had to pay money to activate the prize before it could be released.
Based on that false story, he got Brewer to send gift cards worth $800 through the platform.
The EFCC said Olamilekan admitted selling the gift cards on the Cardsonic app, converting the proceeds to naira and sending the money to his grandmother’s OPay account. He also confessed to benefiting from the $800 obtained through the fraud.
The commission added that he operated several social media and messaging accounts for his scams, including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Zangi and iMessage.
The court found him guilty of indirectly concealing the origin of $800 in gift cards, contrary to Section 18(2)(a) and punishable under Section 18(3) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
Beyond the N200,000 fine, Justice Dipeolu ordered him to pay N1 million to the Federal Government. The judge also ordered the forfeiture of an iPhone 11 Pro and a Poco C71 phone recovered from him in connection with the offence.
Olamilekan will remain in a correctional centre until he pays the fine and the N1 million.
The EFCC said the teenager, who claimed to be from the Republic of Benin but was born in Nigeria, was among 21 suspected internet fraudsters arrested in a sting operation at Applewood Estate, Orchid Road, Lekki, Lagos, on October 26, 2026. The arrests were made by operatives of the commission’s Lagos Zonal Directorate 1.
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