A Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos State, has convicted eight Chinese nationals for cyber-terrorism and Internet fraud.
The conviction was secured by the Lagos zonal directorate 1 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The anti-graft agency disclosed this in a statement on its X handle on Friday.
According to EFCC, the suspects are Pan Cai Qi, Zeng Xian Tao, Weng Mao Rong, Wang Xiong Wei aka Xiao Bai, Shi Dong Fu, Wang Shi Long, Liu Ke Fan and Ting Liao.
The anti-graft agency said the convicts were part of the syndicate of 792 alleged cryptocurrency investment and romance fraud suspects arrested on December 19, 2024 in Lagos during a sting operation tagged ‘Eagle Flush Operation’ conducted by EFCC operatives.
This brings to 22 the number of Chinese nationals that have been convicted of offences bordering on cyber-terrorism and internet fraud in the last eight days.
Fourteen Chinese nationals were on June 27 convicted and sentenced by the court.
One of the charges against the latest convicted Chinese nationals reads: “That you, Pan Cai Qi, sometime in December 2024 at Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourabe Court, willfully caused to be accessed computer system for the purpose of destabilising and destroying the economy and social structure of Nigeria and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 18 of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc) Act, 2015 (As Amended, 2024]”
They initially pleaded “not guilty” to the charges filed against them.
However, EFCC said during Friday’s sitting, they all changed their “not guilty plea” to “guilty.”
The prosecution counsel, M.K Bashir, prayed the court to convict them accordingly.
Delivering his judgement, Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke, convicted and sentenced all the defendants to one year imprisonment, with a fine of N1m.
The Judge also ordered that upon completion of their sentences, the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Immigration Service, should ensure that the convicts are repatriated to their country of origin within seven days.
Justice Aneke ordered the forfeiture of the items recovered from them to the Federal Government of Nigeria.
Nurudeen Akewushola is an investigative reporter and fact-checker with The ICIR. He believes courageous in-depth investigative reporting is the key to social justice, accountability and good governance in society. You can reach him via nyahaya@icirnigeria.org and @NurudeenAkewus1 on Twitter.