Justice C.N. Nwabulu of the Federal High Court in Abuja has sentenced Solomon Odigie Moses, a self-styled spiritualist arrested in Ekpoma, Edo State, to one year in prison after Moses pleaded guilty to cheating and impersonating a spiritual leader in a case involving an Indian woman seeking spiritual assistance.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, told the court that Moses operated a fictitious TikTok account under the name “Dr Solomon” and obtained $1,100 from Sharon Kaur for purported spiritual prayers and assistance.

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According to the EFCC, the encounter later developed into an alleged sextortion scheme.

Investigators said Moses persuaded Kaur to undergo a naked spiritual bath, secretly recorded the session without her permission and subsequently threatened to release the footage unless she paid him.

The EFCC said Kaur eventually paid $1,100 to prevent the alleged intimate recording from being made public.

The agency said Moses received the money through his Zelle payment platform, after which the naira equivalent was paid into his local bank account.

The case highlights how online identities and claims of spiritual expertise can be used to establish trust with people seeking help from outside Nigeria, before that trust is allegedly exploited for financial gain.

Moses was arrested in Ekpoma, Edo State, during the EFCC investigation. He was subsequently prosecuted in Abuja under provisions of the Penal Code relating to cheating and impersonation.

The charge stated that Moses had fraudulently impersonated a spiritual leader through a fictitious TikTok account and obtained $1,100 from Kaur under the guise of providing spiritual prayers and assistance.

Moses pleaded guilty when the charge was read to him. EFCC prosecution counsel Maryam Hayatudeen then urged the court to convict and sentence him.

Justice Nwabulu subsequently convicted Moses and imposed a one-year prison term, with an option of a N300,000 fine.

The court also ordered that the $1,100 identified as proceeds of the offence be forfeited and returned to the victim through the EFCC.

The restitution order provides an important element of redress in a case in which the alleged financial loss was directly connected to threats involving the victim’s privacy.

The EFCC’s account also illustrates the increasingly blurred boundary between conventional online fraud and forms of digital coercion in which intimate material is allegedly used as leverage.

In this case, the prosecution centred on cheating and impersonation, while the alleged recording and threats formed part of the facts presented by the anti-graft agency.

The sentence brings the case to a formal conclusion following Moses’s guilty plea.

The court’s order means the $1,100 paid in connection with the scheme is to be returned to Kaur through the commission rather than retained as criminal proceeds.

The case also serves as a stark reminder of the risks that can arise when requests for spiritual or personal assistance are conducted through unverified online identities.

For victims targeted through intimate material, threats to publish private images or recordings can quickly turn a request for help into a coercive financial demand.

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Moses’s conviction is therefore significant beyond the one-year sentence. It underscores the potential consequences when false online identities are allegedly used to obtain money and exploit a person’s vulnerability.