Justice Deinde Dipeolu of the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has ordered the final forfeiture of 431 mobile phones seized from convicted Chinese cyber-fraud operators and their accomplices to the Federal Government.
The judge granted the order on Tuesday, following an application filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
In the suit marked FHC/LAG/MISC/990/2026, filed as an action in rem, EFCC counsel, Hanatu Kofarnaisa, prayed the court for final forfeiture of the devices, arguing they were instrumentalities and proceeds of unlawful activities.
The application was brought pursuant to Section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Related Offences Act, 2006 and Section 44(2)(b) of the 1999 Constitution.
In moving the application, the prosecution relied on an affidavit by EFCC investigating officer, Christopher Augustine, who disclosed an elaborate international cybercrime network operating in a facility codenamed “HK” in Victoria Island, Lagos.
According to the EFCC, foreign nationals from China, Kyrgyzstan, the Philippines, and Pakistan established the hub, where over 500 laptops, 400 cell phones and various local telecom cards were deployed for romance scams, cryptocurrency fraud and investment swindles.
The commission said a sting operation on December 10, 2024, led to the arrest of over 700 suspects, including 500 Nigerians, 148 Chinese nationals, 40 Filipinos, two Kyrgyz nationals and one Pakistani.
The EFCC added that a firm, Genting International Company Limited, controlled by a Chinese national, Huang Haoyu (Ken), was registered in mid-2024 as a front for the syndicate and employed about 200 Chinese nationals who recruited and supervised Nigerian youths to execute scams targeting victims in the US, Canada, Mexico and Europe.
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