Court orders final forfeiture of $222k digital assets seized from Chinese crypto fraud syndicate
The Federal High Court in Lagos has granted the final forfeiture of digital assets valued at $222,729 in USDT, confiscated from a group of Chinese nationals.
Presiding judge, Alexander Owoeye, issued the order on Monday following an application submitted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
According to the anti-corruption agency, the digital wallet assets were recovered from a network of 792 suspected internet fraudsters involved in cryptocurrency and romance scams.
Earlier in February, the court had issued an interim forfeiture order, allowing the federal government to take custody of the assets.
The court also directed the EFCC to publicize the notice in a national daily, giving any interested parties a 14-day window to present themselves and contest the forfeiture.
At the hearing on Monday, EFCC counsel Zeenat Atiku informed the court that the application for permanent forfeiture was backed by an affidavit sworn by EFCC investigator Muazu Abdulrahman.
The EFCC counsel said Abdulrahman discovered that the syndicate financed its operations through Genting International Co. Limited (GICL), a Nigerian-registered company.
“Over the course of its activities, this company’s Union Bank account 0225100403 received a staggering sum of over N2,268,839,161 (Two Billion, Two Hundred and Sixty-Eight Million, Eight Hundred Thirty-Nine Thousand, One Hundred Sixty-One Naira) from April 12, 2024 to December 23, 2024,” the affidavit reads.
“An analysis of the company’s bank statement revealed that the primary inflows into the account originated from two cryptocurrency vendors: Chukwuemeka Okeke and Alhassan Aminu Garba.
“Furthermore, Okeke and Garba were invited for questioning and they willingly provided their statements under caution.
“They reported that they received a total USDT valued at $2,386,642 from the syndicates, resulting from USDT purchased through peer-to-peer trading.
“They also identified the wallet addresses utilized by the group for transferring funds (USDTs).”
Upon hearing the application, Justice Owoeye granted the final forfeiture of the assets to the federal government.