Court jails Lagos teenager over $800 gift card scam

The Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos, has convicted and sentenced 18-year-old internet fraudster Hassan Olamilekan for laundering $800 from a gift card scam.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said in a Monday statement that Olamilekan was sentenced on Friday after pleading guilty to a one-count money laundering charge.

The court fined him N200,000 and ordered him to pay N1 million to the federal government as restitution, with detention in a correctional centre until he pays. An iPhone 11 Pro and a Poco C71 were forfeited.

According to Gazette NG, investigators said Olamilekan, who claimed to be from the Republic of Benin but was born in Nigeria, met US citizen Gary Brewer on Zangi, posing as an American woman, Julie Leach. He claimed Brewer had won a $250 million lottery that needed money to activate, and got him to send gift cards. He sold them on Cardsonic and moved the naira to his grandmother’s OPay account.

He was among 21 suspected fraudsters arrested in Applewood Estate, Lekki, on October 26, 2026.