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, with an option of a N56 million fine, over their involvement in a multi-billion-naira cybercrime and money laundering scheme.
The court also directed that the convicts perform three days of community service and ordered their repatriation to their home country after serving their sentences and completing the community service.
The two men 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 hearing on Wednesday, counsel to the first and second defendants, Miss 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 previous adjourned date, the court had been notified 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 not guilty plea.
Prosecution counsel, Bilkisu Buhari-Bala, urged the court to convict the two men in view of their admission, noting that the prosecution had earlier presented 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 further requested the forfeiture of all items recovered during the investigation, including those found 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 also ordered that they undertake three days of community service and be repatriated after serving their sentences and completing the community service.
Proceedings will 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 forfeited 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 conspired in 2024 to unlawfully access computer systems with the intent to destabilise Nigeria’s economic and social structure by recruiting and deploying Nigerian youths to falsely present 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 were 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, the defendants 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.
