By Emmanuel Kwada
In a major crackdown on internet fraud, the Lagos Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned 29 Chinese, 10 Filipinos, one Malaysian, one Indonesian, and one Pakistani before separate Federal High Courts in Ikoyi, Lagos. The suspects, who are part of a syndicate of 792 alleged cryptocurrency investment and romance fraud suspects, were arrested on December 19, 2024, during a surprise operation tagged “Eagle Flush Operation” by EFCC operatives.
The defendants, including Zhang Hua Zhai, Chen Xin, and Li Zhen Peng, among others, were arraigned on separate charges bordering on alleged cybercrimes, cyber-terrorism, impersonation, possession of documents containing false pretence, and identity theft. They were arraigned alongside a company, Genting International Co. Ltd., before Justices Ayokunle Faji, D.I. Dipeolu, Alexander Owoeye, and C.J. Aneke.
EFCC Cracks Down on Internet Fraud: 29 Chinese, 10 Filipinos, and Others Arraigned in Lagos
One of the counts reads that Zhang Hua Zhai and Genting International Co. Limited willfully caused computer systems to be accessed, organized to seriously destabilize Nigeria’s constitutional structure, by procuring and employing Nigerian youths for identity theft and holding themselves out as persons of foreign nationality, with the intent to gain financial advantage. Another count alleges that Vera Dela Cruz and Genting International Co. Ltd. willfully caused computer systems to be accessed, organized to seriously destabilize Nigeria’s constitutional structure, by procuring and employing Nigerian youths for identity theft and holding themselves out as persons of foreign nationality, with the intent to gain financial advantage.
The EFCC’s move is a significant step in the fight against internet fraud, which has become a major concern in Nigeria. The commission’s efforts to prosecute those involved in these crimes will help to deter others and protect innocent citizens from falling victim to these scams.
