Federal Government of Nigeria has filed criminal charges against four Nigerian crypto dealers and several firms for allegedly conducting the business of other financial institutions without a valid banking license.
Gatekeepers News reports that the individuals, Ejiogu A. Chinedu, Nnamdi F. Okereke, Oty Ugochukwu Stanley, and Chukwuebuka F. Ogumba, along with their co-defendants, are accused of violating the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act of 2020.
The government is asking the Federal High Court in Abuja to punish the defendants for allegedly conducting the specialized business of another financial institution without a valid license, including negotiating United States Dollar Tether (USDT) against Naira with the public.
The prosecution stated that the defendants, not being authorized dealers in Nigeria’s Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market, committed an offense contrary to and punishable under Section 29(1)(c) of the Foreign Exchange (Monitoring and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act.
The case stems from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s (EFCC) ongoing investigation, which revealed that several bank accounts are linked to individuals allegedly using virtual cryptocurrency exchange platforms to manipulate the value of the naira illegally and launder proceeds from unlawful activities.
The EFCC had previously filed a motion to freeze over 1,000 accounts linked to the alleged activities, and the court granted an interim order freezing the accounts for a period of ninety days. However, the EFCC later filed a fresh motion to freeze certain bank accounts and continue its investigation, which was granted by the court on September 4, 2024.
