The Federal High Court in Lagos, on February 4, 2025, sentenced TikToker Olamide Bello to three years in prison for impersonating an American citizen in a romance scam.
Bello posed as an American woman named Keanu Reeves to defraud victims seeking relationships. The court offered an option of a ₦600,000 fine in lieu of imprisonment and ordered the forfeiture of Bello’s iPhone 14 Pro Max and a 2013 GLK model to the Federal Government. The sentence is retroactive to December 6, 2024, the date of his arrest.
Justice Alexander Owoeye of the Federal High Court the sentence will start retroactively from the convict’s detention on December 6, 2024.
Prior to Bello’s conviction, his attorney, E.O. Ajoku, begged the court to provide the convicted individual with a non-custodial punishment or the choice of a fine.
Ajoku informed the judge that Bello had been detained since December 6, 2024 and that he was a first-time offender.
The defence attorney also mentioned that Bello is the sole carer for his mother, wife, and other family members because his father is late and he has a nine-month-old child.
“I have spoken to him and he has promised not to do such again. I pray the court to give him a non-custodial sentence or an option of fine,” he added.