₦airaland Forum

Adedunmola Gbadegesin, a Nigerian, has been sentenced
to 60 months in prison by a court in the United States
over a romance scam.
.

Gbadegesin was said to have been involved in a romance
scam scheme that cost a Lexington woman approximately
$200,000.

BACKGROUND
In September 2021, Gbadegesin was arrested over
allegations that he defrauded an American lady living in
Kentucky, a state in the US.


In April 2022, Gbadegesin was extradited to the US over an alleged conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering.

He was extradited by the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC) following a court order.

A federal high court in Lagos had granted a request to extradite the suspect to the US to answer to criminal charges bordering on a romance scam, wire fraud, and money laundering.

In the US, Gbadegesin was indicted over conspiracy to commit money laundering and wire fraud “stemming from the financial exploitation of elderly victims in the United States”.

He was said to have hired others in the US to receive funds from the victims

His co-conspirators are identified as Olatunbosun Oluwakayode Ajayi, Otunuya Ineh Eqwem, and Ismaila
Fafunmi.

“Fafunmi pleaded guilty to his role in the money laundering scheme; and in August 2021, he received 51 months in prison. Ineh Eqwem and Ajayi have also pleaded guilty for their roles in the money laundering scheme; they were sentenced to 24 months and 12 months, respectively,” a statement from US attorney’s office for Eastern District of Kentucky reads.

On May 2, 2022, Gbadegesin made his first appearance in a US court.

According to the Lexington Herald-Leader, the Nigerian
pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering conspiracy.


THE SENTENCING
On Friday, Karen Caldwell, a US district judge, sentenced
Gbadegesin to a 60-month prison term alongside a forfeiture of $38,000.

Before his final sentencing, Gbadegesin told the court he had accepted guilt for his actions and moved on.

Lexington Herald-Leader quoted the Nigerian to have said he committed the crime to feed his family.

1. Always know your previous bank balance in your head so that you know if it has added up

2. Don't use your SMS to check bank alert, don't depend on your SMS because scammers can manipulate the SMS , always check your alert from your bank Mobile app. Also, the alert may be delayed In sms, but your bank Mobile app will show it immediately . Don't depend on SMS, check your balance through App

3. Open an email with your bank. So that your bank will always send an alert to your email. Email does not show fake alert, Emails only show real alert, so if you don't see the alert in your email. It's fake

4) If you're a business person. Don't easily trust customers especially your new client when they send money to you except you have confirmed it. Most of these scammers dress nicely and they drive clean cars. You may look at their appearance and think they cannot scam you. My dear it's a lie. They have money but they still want to scam the poor .

5) Don't allow any customer rush you during transaction. Some of them will rush you . Saying they want to attend to a meeting somewhere. Don't let anyone go without confirming your alert . Even if they show you debit alert, don't believe it because most of them will ask for your account number and insert the pin. While the transaction is going on, they will cancel it but the bank will send them debit alert . They will take the debit alert and show you to believe

But later the bank will reverse the money to their account because it was a cancelled transaction

6) When the person that wants to do the transfer ask for your phone number, give the person a phone number that is not connected to your bank. If you receive alert in that phone number, know it's a fake alert

7) Know how your bank mask account numbers. Some banks will mask the middle digit of your account leaving the last four digits "4563*********5674" . Some banks will mask all leaving only the last four digits "*************6743" .

Pay attention to the message title . Some bank use "Acct" while some use "Acc". And also pay attention to the case your bank uses if it is small or capital letters. Some bank uses "ACCT , ACC or Acc and Acct . So know the case your bank uses.

9) Some bank present credit alert as "CR:NGN545,700. While some uses "CR:N5,000. So know the methods your bank uses and also pay attention to the case if they use small letters "cr" or capital letters "CR"

And the last one is that fake alert does not come with Kobo. Real alert shows "6000.56" but fake alert only shows "6,000

Walshak Kos

President Muhammadu Buhari says the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) assured him that there was “capacity, manpower and equipment” to print enough new naira
notes.

He said the assurance was given to him before he considered giving approval for the naira redesign policy.

The president spoke on Friday after meeting with governors of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on the matter.

There has been increased tension in the country as Nigerians struggle to obtain cash at banks and point-of-sale terminals.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had given a deadline of January 31 for the use of old notes — but it was recently extended to February 10.

However, several stakeholders have said the number of days is insufficient to guarantee the widespread circulation of the new notes.

Speaking on Friday, the president said he demanded an “undertaking from the CBN that no new notes will be printed in a foreign country and they in turn gave him assurances that there was enough capacity, manpower and equipment to print the currency for local needs”.

The president said that given the present situation, he will “go back to find out what was actually happening”.

Buhari also expressed doubts about the commitment of banks to the success of the policy, describing them as “inefficient”.

“Some banks are inefficient and only concerned about themselves, even if a year is added, problems associated with selfishness and greed won’t go away,” he said.

The APC governors had earlier appealed to the president to allow both the old and new naira notes to co-exist to ease the suffering of Nigerians.

Nasir el-Rufai, governor of Kaduna state, said although the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) mopped up over N2 trillion of the old notes in circulation, only N300 billion worth of new notes were printed.

The Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum (SMBLF) has endorsed Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP).

The decision was announced on Thursday in a communique read by John Nwodo, the immediate past president-general of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, at the end of a meeting of the forum in Abuja.

The SMBLF, chaired by Edwin Clark, is made up of leaders from the middle-belt area, as well as groups including the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Afenifere, and the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF).

“That we give our unalloyed vote of thanks to our father and leader, Chief Edwin Clark, for his boldness, his sagacity, his tenacity, and his relentlessness in pursuing the aims and aspirations of this organisation,” the communique reads.

“That we warn all those who want to change the hands of the clock of Nigeria by doing anything that will derail a peaceful transition to the next civilian government of this country, that we shall rise like one man in defence of the ballot box and that Nigerians must go to vote.

“This we have resolved today and we enjoin other Nigerians who do not belong to our organisation to join us in realising this for the betterment of Nigeria: Peter Obi is your son and he is the rock upon which Nigeria will stand.”

Also in attendance at the SMBLF meeting were Ayo Adebanjo, Afenifere leader; and Bittus Pogu, president of the Middle Belt Forum.

Obi’s endorsement by the forum comes after Clark, convener of PANDEF, threw his weight behind the LP presidential candidate.

The PANDEF leader had said electing Obi is the country’s “best hope of a new Nigeria of peace, stability and progress”.

Also, former President Olusegun Obasanjo had, in January, announced his decision to support Obi.

“None of the contestants is a saint but when one compares their character, antecedent, their understanding, knowledge, discipline and vitality that they can bring to bear and the great efforts required to stay focused on the job, particularly looking at where the country is today and with the experience on the job that I personally had, Peter Obi as a mentee has an edge,” Obasanjo had said.

Samuel Ortom, governor of Benue, had also backed the endorsement of Obi by Obasanjo, adding that if he were not a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), he would have campaigned for the LP candidate.

A notorious terrorist leader identified as Kachalla Baleri, has been seen in a viral video displaying wads of new Naira notes amid a scarcity.

In an unverified video released on Twitter by @Edrees4P on Wednesday, February 1, the terrorist, who spoke in the Hausa language, claimed that he had up to N10 million of the new naira notes to buy more weapons.

According to Punch report, some defence blogs said the new naira notes in his possession were ransom he allegedly received from relatives of abductees.

Kachalla was one of the 19 bandits/terrorists kingpins that were declared wanted by the Defence Headquarters in November 2022.

The military also placed a N5 million bounty on each of them.

The wanted persons have been terrorising Katsina, Sokoto and Zamfara States.

yomi007k:
The bank manager must be jailed for dating this ugly girl because of yansh.


I hate mumu men.

Travel blogger has hit back at claims he is “creepy” for dating a 23-year-old woman who looks like an 8-year-old girl.

Dan Swygart, 26, recently began romancing reality star Shauna Rae — whose growth was stunted due to treatment she received as a child for brain cancer. Rae — who weighs 50 lbs and is 3f 10in tall— is the subject of the TLC reality series, “I Am Shauna Rae.”

Swygart recently shared several snaps with Rae on Instagram, before posting a video to the social media site vehemently defending their connection. It’s long been a struggle for Rae to date, with the pint-sized personality previously telling The Post that she’s underestimated and excluded because of her appearance.

In his clip, Swygart revealed that he reached out to Rae with flowers after seeing the first season of her show. The pair soon met in person and went on several dates together.

“It’s very important to remember that Shauna is an incredible 23-year-old woman who has a disability,” he explained. “So as you are building a connection with her, it’s important to acknowledge her disability and look past that and build it with who she is as an individual.”

Swygart continued: “As soon as you say that she can’t have a real-world connection with someone else, you dehumanize her. She is a human being. She deserves to have relationships and connections with whoever she wants.”

Swygart — who hails from the UK — appears in the second season of “I Am Shauna Rae,” where he is seen forging a connection with the pint-sized star.

But the Brit has been blasted by viewers, with someone saying he is “sick” for thinking of Rae as a legitimate love interest.

“Yes, she is 23, but she looks and talks like an eight-year-old. She also does not act like a mature woman. She is childlike,” one critic claimed

''Dear Men, Please have pads in your houses, even if it's the smallest pack. It may come in handy for your female friends one day. Just incase of emergencies''

Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has condemned the alleged explosion at the campaign rally of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers state.


Darlington Nwauju, Rivers APC spokesperson, had alleged that there was an explosion on Thursday during the party’s governorship rally at Ojukwu field, Rumuwoji community in Port Harcourt, the state capital.

But Grace Iringe-Koko, Rivers police spokesperson, countered Nwauju, saying no explosion occurred — and that the incident was a clash between the community members and party supporters.

Reacting in a series of tweets on Thursday evening, the PDP presidential candidate said he “stands with the APC” and families of those injured.

Abubakar also said the should be no room for violence against political opponents.

“There should be no place for violence and anti-democratic
manifestations in this election,” he wrote.

“We’ve already committed to that in the peace pact we all signed up to.

“Elections are not a do-or-die affair but an opportunity to reinforce our belief in democracy through our leadership choices via adult suffrage.

“We had complained about the violence that had been visited on our party in some states because we did not want it to become a pattern if those engaged in anti- democratic activities were not brought to book.

“Our worst fears have now manifested with the explosion at the APC rally in Port Harcourt. It stands condemned. “Elections and the choices we make should be about the ballot and not the bullet.

“On behalf of my team, I stand in solidarity with the APC and the families of the injured. I wish the injured a quick recovery.”

Abubakar also asked security agencies to ensure that “those behind this dastardly act, including their promoters” are brought to justice to serve as a deterrent to “copycats who may be emboldened to thread this same anti-democratic path”.

Meanwhile, the PDP candidate’s comment comes amid crisis in his party over the position taken by stakeholders led by Nyesom Wike, governor of Rivers.

Wike and his allies have excluded themselves from the PDP presidential campaign over calls for Iyorchia Ayu to step down as national chairperson of the party.

The calls for Ayu’s resignation, according to the PDP stakeholders, are based on the grounds that the PDP presidential candidate and the national chairperson cannot be from the same region.

The World's most powerful passport for 2023 has been revealed.

For the fifth year running, Japan crowns the index, which is based on exclusive data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and is ranked the world's most powerful passport for 2023.

Japanese citizens enjoy visa-free or visa-on-demand access to a record 193 destinations around the world, just ahead of Singapore and South Korea whose citizens can freely visit 192.

Below the Asian top three, a glut of European countries sit near the top of the leaderboard. Germany and Spain are tied on 190 destinations, followed by Finland, Italy, and Luxembourg on 189.

Then there's Austria, Denmark, Netherlands, and Sweden all tied in fifth place, while France, Ireland, Portugal, and the United Kingdom are at No. 6.

New Zealand and the United States make an appearance at No. 7, alongside Belgium, Norway, Switzerland and the Czech Republic.

Afghan nationals sit at the bottom of the index once again and can access just 27 countries without requiring a visa in advance.


The best passports to hold in 2023, according to the Henley Passport Index

1. Japan (193 destinations)

2. Singapore, South Korea (192 destinations)

3. Germany, Spain (190 destinations)

4. Finland, Italy, Luxembourg (189 destinations)

5. Austria, Denmark, Netherlands, Sweden (188 destinations)

6. France, Ireland, Portugal, United Kingdom (187 destinations)

7. Belgium, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, United States, Czech Republic (186 destinations)

8. Australia, Canada, Greece, Malta (185 destinations)

9. Hungary, Poland (184 destinations)

10. Lithuania, Slovakia (183 destinations)


The worst passports to hold in 2023, according to the Henley Passport Index

Several countries around the world have visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 40 or fewer countries. These include:

102. North Korea (40 destinations)

103. Nepal, Palestinian territory (38 destinations)

104. Somalia (35 destinations)

105. Yemen (34 destinations)

106. Pakistan (32 destinations)

107. Syria (30 destinations)

108. Iraq (29 destinations)

109. Afghanistan (27 destinations)