Olusegun Ake, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Canbit Music, has been remanded in prison custody on Thursday by an Ikeja High Court in Lagos for allegedly defrauding an American company, Renovate America Incorporated.
According to The Nation, Justice Oyindamola Ogala made the order following Ake’s plea of not guilty to a 21-count charge of fraud preferred against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The judge adjourned at the instance of EFCC counsel, Babatunde Sonaiki, pending the conclusion of plea bargain talks between the defendant and the anti-graft agency.
Earlier, Sonaiki alleged that the defendant defrauded Renovate America through a new type of phishing called Ijobak.
Ijobak lures human resources, accounting and payroll staff of a company to disclose vital details of all the employees in the company.
Ake, who is also the owner of Canbit Resources (Nig.) Limited, Istartup Enterprise and Volta Company, allegedly impersonated Renovate CEO, Steven Bannett, hacked the company’s system, stole vital information often referred to as ‘W-2s’ and sold same to the ‘dark world’.
The court also heard that the defendant allegedly printed some American bank cheques, which he presented as evidence of payment to his victims online.