The Nigerian Court's ruling on charges related to cryptocurrency and online fraud
The High Court in Lagos, Nigeria, sentenced each Chinese criminal to one year in prison for involvement in cyber terrorism and fraud based on cryptocurrency, related to a large Ponzi scheme discovered in December 2024.
The defendants, including Peng Li Huan, Zhang Jin Rong, He Kun, Rachelle Cabalona, Caselyn Pionela, Guo Long Long, and Zhang Hua Zhai, were arrested in an EFCC raid at a building on Oyin Jolayemi Street, where more than 700 suspects related to their illegal activities were detained.
The suspects were subsequently prosecuted on separate charges of cyber terrorism and online fraud.
The court convicted 15 Chinese individuals, 2 Filipinos, and 1 Pakistani for cyber terrorism and online fraud in Lagos. EFCC Nigeria achieved the ruling on June 19-20, 2025. pic.twitter.com/3Kf0IeYmfp
— EFCC Nigeria (@officialEFCC) June 20, 2025
The trial process of the suspects for online fraud activities
The suspects were separately summoned through the EFCC before Judges: Justice Ayokunle Faji, Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke, and Justin Yellim Bogoro. The EFCC lawyers, including Bilkisu Buhari-Bala, Banjo Temitope, and Chineye Okezie, announced that the defendants had agreed to sign a plea agreement, which was filed on June 20.
After being brought to court, the defendants admitted their guilt and confirmed that they voluntarily agreed to these agreements.
The court then sentenced and fined each person one year in prison along with a fine of 1 million naira (approximately 645 USD). The court also ordered that, after serving their sentence, the Director-General of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) would deport them to their home country within 7 days.
In the indictment, the court stated that in December 2024, the defendants 'voluntarily accessed the organization's computer system to destabilize and destroy the economic and social structure of Nigeria by recruiting Nigerian youths to commit identity theft and impersonate foreign nationalities for financial gain.'
These criminal acts were prosecuted under Section 18 of the Cybercrime Act 2015 (amended in 2024) and Section 2(3)(d) of the Terrorism Act 2022.
The organization and operational methods of the criminal group
According to the EFCC, the suspects were arrested on December 10-12, 2024, after a surprise raid at their base on Victoria Island. Mr. Ola Olukoyede, a representative of the EFCC, stated that the suspects used this building as an operations center, training their Nigerian accomplices on online fraud tactics and related criminal activities.
They recruited Nigerian accomplices through WhatsApp accounts linked to foreign numbers, using romantic chats to make fraudulent business proposals and lure victims into online trading platforms like yooto.com, where the account activation price starts at 35 USD.
This group recruited young Nigerians based on their computer skills, particularly typing skills. Those who passed the screening would receive mobile devices or computers after a 2-week training on how to impersonate international women in online fraud activities through chat.
They lured victims into investing in the cryptocurrency websites of affiliated companies, and when trust was established, the foreign group would manipulate conversations to defraud, block Nigerian accomplices from transactions, while committing fraud through platforms such as international cryptocurrency exchanges.
Source: https://tintucbitcoin.com/7-nguoi-trung-quoc-pham-toi-lua-dao-tien-dien-tu/
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