The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Friday arraigned 11 Chinese nationals, one Filipino, and Genting International Co. Ltd before a Lagos court on cyber fraud charges.
The defendants – Wang Zheng Ming, Li Yin Hui, Xian Hong Will, Zhang Xiao Lei, Long Zhao Ming, Guo Xiao Fei, Yang Sheng, Wang Zheng Feng, Chen Wenyuan, Liu San Hua, Luo Jia You and Rheign Dela Vega – are among a syndicate of 792 alleged cryptocurrency investment and romance fraud suspects arrested during a surprise EFCC operation tagged “Eagle Flush Operation” on December 19, 2024.
The arrests stem from a large-scale EFCC raid on December 10, 2024, at a seven-storey building, known as the “Big Leaf Building,” on Oyin Jolayemi Street, Victoria Island, Lagos.
According to the EFCC, the syndicate used sophisticated setups, including high-end desktop computers and over 500 SIM cards linked to local telecom operators, to conduct phishing attacks targeting Americans, Canadians, Mexicans, and Europeans.
EFCC: Cyber fraud syndicate recruited Nigerian operatives
The anti-graft agency says the facility, designed to look like a corporate headquarters, was used by foreign nationals to train Nigerian accomplices in online fraud operations.
Ola Olukoyede, EFCC Chairman, revealed in a statement that 148 Chinese, 40 Filipinos, two Kharzartans, one Pakistani, and one Indonesian were among those arrested.
According to the EFCC, the syndicate used sophisticated setups, including high-end desktop computers and over 500 SIM cards linked to local telecom operators, to conduct phishing attacks targeting Americans, Canadians, Mexicans, and Europeans.
Recruited Nigerian operatives were allegedly trained to create fake online profiles and engage victims in fraudulent investment and romance scams. The Commission said the syndicate lured victims into making payments on a fraudulent platform, www.yooto.com, under the guise of cryptocurrency investment.
At the Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos, before Justice D.I. Dipeolu, the EFCC detailed charges including cybercrimes, cyber-terrorism, identity theft, and possession of documents “containing false pretence.”
One of the counts reads verbatim:
“That you, LI YIN HUI and GENTING INTERNATIONAL CO. LIMITED, on or about the 18th of December 2024 in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, willfully caused to be accessed computer systems organised to seriously destabilise the constitutional structure of Nigeria (which prohibits and prevents cyber and related crimes) when you procured/employed Nigerian youths for identity theft and to hold themselves out as persons of foreign nationality, with the intent to gain financial advantage for yourselves and you thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 18 and 27 of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc) Act, 2015 (As Amended,
2024).”
Another charge, targeting defendant Luo Jia You (also known as A. YOU), states that he “willfully gave false information to officers of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in the course of investigation when you were being questioned for being part of a criminal syndicate group, specialized in Romance scam, crypto currency fraud, cyber terrorism amongst others; and in order to mislead them, you falsely represented your name as A. YOU.”
The EFCC revealed that all defendants entered a “not guilty” plea as their charges were read, while prosecution counsel – including L.P. Aso, M. K. Bashir, T. J. Banjo, N. K. Ukoha and B. Buhari-Bala – moved for trial dates and requested that the accused be remanded in appropriate correctional facilities.
Justice Dipeolu adjourned the matter to trial dates on February 7, 14 and 21, 2025, remanding the suspects at the Ikoyi and Kirikiri Correctional Centres.
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