Malaysia-based popular Lagos Yahoo boy, Hope Olusegun Aroke, popularly
called H-Money and referred to as “Oracle to gba ise wole,”has been
sentenced to 24 years imprisonment by Justice Lateefa Okunnu of the
Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja, for his involvement in an
internet scam that fetched him N25million.
The major song which
set the tone for this abnormal norm was rapper, Reminisce’s 2012 hit “2
Mush” where he praise-sang his’waya waya’ fans hailing him…”H Money
Honorable to’n gbe ise wole.”
The 25-year old is an undergraduate
of Kuala Lumpur Metropolitan University, Malaysia. He was arraigned by
EFCC on a two-count charge bordering on obtaining money by false
pretence, cheque cloning, wire transfer and forgery. The court found him
guilty of the two charges and sentenced him to 12 years imprisonment on
each of the two counts.
Trouble came for Aroke when an anonymous
petitioner wrote to the EFCC alleging that the Kogi-born undergraduate
was involved in online fraudulent activities. The EFCC investigated the
internet dealings of Aroke.
Investigations showed that he was
involved in several romance scam that fetched him N25million. Hope
admitted sending the money to Nigeria through a person identified as
Angela, who later helped him deposit in a bank.
He was arrested
at the 1004 estate, Lagos Island and 2 Benz cars valued at N23 million
were recovered from him. Last week, Justice Okunnu ruled that the
sentence should run concurrently.
Meanwhile, Hope has two other matters yet undecided before Justice B. Idris of the Federal High Court Lagos.