Lagos court jails Chinese directors over N3.4bn, $2.5m Crypto fraud

Justice Daniel Osiagor of the Federal High Court in Lagos on Wednesday convicted and sentenced two Chinese nationals and directors of Genting International Co. Limited, Huang Haoyu, also known as Ken, and An Hongxu, to a cumulative 46 years’ imprisonment each, or an option of a N56 million fine, over a multi-billion-naira cybercrime and money laundering scheme.

The court also ordered the convicts to undertake three days of community service and directed that they be repatriated to their country of origin after serving their sentences and completing the community service.

The two were among 792 suspected internet and cryptocurrency fraud suspects arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in Lagos in December 2024.

The second defendant, Audu Friday, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges and will face trial.

At the resumed of trial on Wednesday, counsel to the first and second defendants Mis Bridget Omateno informed the court that the two directors had decided to change their pleas from not guilty to guilty.

She recalled that on the last adjourned date, the court had been informed that counsel on record had been debriefed.

Although there was no plea bargain agreement, she said the first and third defendants applied to change their pleas and urged the court to direct that the charges be read to them afresh.

When the charges were re-read by the registrar, Huang Haoyu and An Hongxu pleaded guilty to the seven-count charge filed against them, while Audu Friday maintained his plea of not guilty.

Prosecution counsel Bilkisu Buhari – Bala Urged the court to convict the two men in view of their admission, Buhari-Bala noted that the prosecution had earlier called two witnesses before the change of plea.

She told the court that the offences in counts one and two attract life imprisonment, while counts three and four carry 14-year jail terms.

“I humbly pray your lordship to impose the maximum sentence on the convicts in order to serve as a deterrent to the public,” she submitted.

She also urged the court to order the forfeiture of all items recovered during the investigation, including those located on Oyin Jolayemi Street and Bishop Oluwole Street in Victoria Island, as well as any investments traced to the first and third defendants, to the Federal Government.

In his judgment, Justice Osiagor convicted Huang Haoyu and An Hongxu and sentenced them to a cumulative 46 years’ imprisonment each, with an option of a N56 million fine.

The court further ordered that they undertake three days of community service and be repatriated after serving their sentences and completing the community service.

Proceedings are expected to continue against Audu Friday, who maintained his innocence.

In addition to sentencing the two convicts, the court ordered the forfeiture of extensive assets recovered from multiple locations in Victoria Island and Ikoyi to the Federal Government.

The items include 1,596 mobile phones, 2,120 office chairs, 544 office tables, 194 routers, 43 computer systems, a network server, 126 air-conditioning units, several generators and vehicles, hundreds of mattresses and bunk beds, thousands of SIM cards across different networks, and numerous other electronic devices and household items recovered from premises at No. 7 Oyin Jolayemi Street, Victoria Island; Plot 1220 Bishop Oluwole Street, Victoria Island; 54A A.J. Marinho Drive, Victoria Island; and No. 14A Modupe Alakija Crescent, Ikoyi.

According to the charge, the defendants were accused of conspiring in 2024 to wilfully access computer systems organised to seriously destabilise the economic and social structure of Nigeria by procuring and employing Nigerian youths to falsely represent themselves as foreign nationals for financial gain, contrary to the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc.) Act, 2015, as amended in 2024.

They were also accused of procuring individuals to retain $1,262,000 USDT in a Binance wallet and $1,300,203 USDT in a Bybit wallet sums they reasonably ought to have known formed part of the proceeds of unlawful activity, namely fraud, contrary to the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.

The charge further alleged that between August and December 2024, they retained N3,407,824,740.78 in Genting International Co. Limited’s Union Bank account, funds believed to be proceeds of fraud.

They were also said to have transferred N913,922,740.29 to an account belonging to Duliang Pan, who is currently at large, and N106,950,000 to Lagos Oriental Hotel Limited.

Separate counts against Audu Friday and the company alleged unlawful foreign exchange transactions running into billions of naira, contrary to the Foreign Exchange Monitoring and Miscellaneous (Provisions) Act, as well as failure to submit required declarations to the Special Control Unit Against Money Laundering (SCUML).

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