It was judgment day finally came for two Nigerian fraudsters, Tobilola Ibrahim Bakare and Alimi Seun Sikiru.

The fraudsters lost cash and properties in the upscale Lekki axis of Lagos to the Federal Government following their arrest and successful prosecution by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
The forfeited assets include the sums of N196, 741, 216.82 and N7, 054, 852.01 in bank accounts; two vehicles, a Mercedes Benz E500 and a Toyota Hilux 2020 and five-bedroom duplex situated at Ibrahim Eleto Street, Osopa London, Lekki, Lagos, four-bedroom semi-detached duplex situated at Ologolo, Jakande, Lekki, Lagos and another four bedroom semi-detached duplex in Southern View Estate, Mayor Court, Chevron Alternative Road, Lekki, Lagos.
The two vehicles are valued at N30million while the three duplexes are valued at N230million.
The fraudsters gave up the assets as they could not give a satisfactory explanation of the funds and properties linked to them. They confessed to involvement in cybercrime. Bakare, 27, an indigene of Ijebu Ode, Ogun State claimed his forte is Business Email Compromise, and that he had hacked into different companies outside the shores of Nigeria.
The scammers had been successful in their ignoble trade, earning a cumulative sum of $1million USD from victims including three foreign airlines through Business Email Compromise fraud. They laundered the proceeds of crime in acquiring properties including real estate and luxury vehicles.
Life was good, but their comeuppance began in September 2020, when Operatives of the Commission, in the course of investigating a case of suspicious transactions and money laundering involving one Kehinde Adelakun, a convicted internet fraudster, stumbled on evidence linking Alvine International Resources Ventures, owned by the second defendant, Sikiru.
The transaction that sets off the alarm bell was an inflow of N5million in two tranches from Alvine International Resources Ventures.
Further probing by the investigators, revealed several inflows suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activities in both the Sterling Bank and Polaris accounts of the second defendant. The balance in both accounts: N196, 741,216.82 in Sterling Bank and N7, 054,852.01 in Polaris Bank, were swiftly placed on a Post No Debit, to forestall dissipation of the funds pending the conclusion of investigation and determination of the case.
The second defendant, in his statement to the Commission, admitted that the majority of the funds found in his account were from the first defendant, Bakare, who confessed to being into Business Email Compromise, BEC, between 2009 and 2020 and also hacking into the accounts of KLM, Turkish Airlines and British Airways.
The fraudster were subsequently arraigned before Justice O. A Taiwo of the Lagos State High Court, Ikeja on a five-count amended charge bordering on conspiracy and retaining stolen property, an offence contrary to Sections 411 and 328 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State.
One of the counts reads: “Tobilola Ibrahim Bakare and Alimi Seun Sikiru, sometime in 2020 in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, conspired to commit felony to wit: retaining cumulative sum of about $1,000.000,00( One Million United States of America Dollars ) property of KLM, Turkish Airways and British Airways.”
Another count reads: “Tobiloba Ibrahim Bakare and Alimi Seun Sikiru, sometime in 2020 in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, with a dishonest intent, retained four-bedroom detached duplex situated at Ologolo Jakande, Lekki, Lagos.”
They pleaded ‘guilty’ to the charges preferred against them.
Delivering judgment, Justice Taiwo noted that the action of the defendants was “responsible for giving Nigeria a bad image globally, whereby the average Nigerian is looked upon as being untrustworthy and fraudulent”. She convicted and sentenced Bakare, to three years imprisonment on counts 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, with the option of fine of N3m (Three Million Naira).
The Judge also convicted and sentenced Sikiru, to three years imprisonment on counts 1 and 5 with an option of fine of N1 million (One Million Naira).
Justice Taiwo also held that the five-bedroom duplex situated at Ibrahim Eleto Street, Osopa London, Lekki, Lagos, four-bedroom semi-detached duplex situated at Ologolo, Jakande, Lekki, Lagos and another four bedroom semi-detached duplex in Southern View Estate, Mayor Court, Chevron Alternative Road, Lekki, Lagos recovered from the first defendant be forfeited to the Federal Government.
The Judge further held that the sums of N196, 741, 216.82 were recovered from the second defendant’s company, Alvine International Resources Ventures account domiciled in Sterling Bank and N7, 054, 852. 01 recovered from the second defendant’s account domiciled in Polaris Bank be forfeited to the Federal Government.
Two vehicles, a Mercedes Benz E500 and a Toyota Hilux 2020 recovered from the first defendant were also ordered forfeited to the Federal Government.
Below are pictures of properties forfeited:
Properties Taken from fraudsters Tobilola Ibrahim Bakare and Alimi Seun Sikiru.

Pic 1. No 31, Alhaji Mudashiru Eletu Way, Osopa London, Eti-Osa, Lekki, Lagos.

Pic 2. No. 13, AbdulRahman Oseni Street, Ocean Breeze Estate , Ologolo , Jakande, Lekki, Lagos.

Pic 3. House 2B, Bamidele Majiyagbe Street, Southern View, Chevy View, Lekki, Lagos.
How it happened
For many years, Tobilola Ibrahim Bakare and Alimi Seun Sikiru enjoyed the frills of the nouveau riche and the effervescent image of modern age role model of success among the young and upwardly mobile. What with their collection of wonders-on-wheels and exquisitely furnished mansions in exclusive neighborhoods of Lagos. Life was good and business was sweet as the greenback kept tumbling in, from one deal after another.
Their proverbial master key to the ceaseless flow of wealth was access to the email of corporate organizations, a practice that is known as Business Email Compromise Scam in cybercrime.
Bakare, the lord of the manor as far as the deadly partnership is concerned, had mastered the art of breaking into the emails of corporate organizations through hacking and compromising their financials. By the time his melody changed to swansong, his cumulative heist was in the neighborhood of $1million USD.
What went wrong? The guy men, as internet fraudsters are called in cybercrime circles, were not careless. They never expected a comeuppance, at least not in the short term. But a certain transfer from one of their corporate accounts became their Achilles heels. As it turned out, EFCC was literally in pursuit of a small fish when it landed a Shark.
The agency was poring through transactions in the account of Kehinde Adelakun, a convicted internet fraudster when it stumbled on a transfer of N5million in two tranches. The money was wired from the account of Alvine International Resources Ventures, a company owned by Sikiru. The transaction did not sit well in the imagination of the investigators, and they decided to dig deeper. One thing led to another and, in the end, the investigation revealed a slew of suspicious transactions reeking of brazen laundering of proceeds of crime.
It was the impetus for Tobiloba and Sikiru to be taken into custody. When they were confronted with the dossier already assembled by the EFCC, they were nonplussed. They could not offer any explanation for the source of the monies in their accounts or the funds with which they acquired palatial mansions in the upscale Lekki axis of Nigeria’s commercial capital, Lagos.
As the reality of their circumstances dawned on them, they started to sing like a canary.
Bakare, the principal partner of the syndicate confessed to being a prolific BEC fraudster who hacks into the email of his corporate victims. He claimed he has earned over a million United States Dollars from the crime and the proceeds laundered through investment in real estate and the rest used in servicing a luxury lifestyle and acquisition of expensive automobiles.
Cars and other properties traced to them include two vehicles, a Mercedes Benz E500 and a Toyota Hilux 2020, and five-bedroom duplex situated at Ibrahim Eleto Street, Osapa London, Lekki, Lagos, four-bedroom semi-detached duplex situated at Ologolo, Jakande, Lekki, Lagos, and another four bedroom semi-detached duplex in Southern View Estate, Mayor Court, Chevron Alternative Road, Lekki, Lagos.
There is also N203, 796,068.83 cash in two bank accounts.
Faced with the overwhelming evidence by the EFCC, the fraudsters caved in and agreed to give up the assets linked to them. The two vehicles valued at N30million and the three duplexes valued at N230million were subsequently forfeited to the Federal Government. The forfeited assets also included the sums of N196, 741, 216.82, and N7, 054, 852.01 in bank accounts.
Aside from stripping them of the known benefits of their criminal exploits, the EFCC also ensured that they were given custodial sentences following their arraignment at a Lagos State High Court on five counts of retention of stolen properties. Both bagged three years imprisonment but Bakare, 27, an indigene of Ijebu Ode, Ogun State got an option of a N3 million fine while Sikiru was given the option of a N1 million fine.
It was a fitting denouement to a life of fraud, and a clear message that, no matter how hard fraudsters try, judgment day would ultimately come.