The Federal High Court, Abuja, on Wednesday, fixed July 24 for arraignment of two alleged hackers, Abayomi Oluwasesan and Onifade Adeniyi, accused of stealing over 87.8 million dollars from the account of a global crypto investment company.
The defendants, in the charge marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/289/2023, which was brought before the court by the Inspector-General of Police, allegedly gained access into the account of Afriq Arbitrage Company in Oct. 2022 and diverted all the funds in it.
The duo allegedly used the stolen funds to acquire exotic cars, and houses. They also embarked on a lavish lifestyle travelling in private jets and only with first-class tickets on commercial flights.
When the matter was called before Justice Binta Nyako, the defendants who were scheduled to take their plea were present in court but the matter could not proceed owing to the absence of their counsel.
The prosecuting counsel, Mr Wisdom Madaki, told the court that the duo were brought from the Force Criminal Investigation Department, (FCID), for arraignment and that they had been duly served with the charge.
The defendants, who had already mounted the dock, however, told the court that their lawyers were not in court because they were not aware that the police was bringing them to court.
Justice Nyako, who did not seem happy with the development, asked Madaki to properly serve the charge on the defendants and adjourned the matter until July 24 for arraignment.
The News Agency of Nigeria, (NAN) reports that the prosecution had alleged that the defendants, who escaped from the country, were apprehended with the help of Interpol.
According to the police, aside from the 1st defendant, Oluwasesan, who was a staff of the company, other persons involved in the fraud, are presently at large.
Some counts in the charge against the defendants, read: “That you Abayomi Oluwasesan and Onifade Adeniyi on or before October 2022, within the jurisdiction of this court did conspire among yourselves to commit felony, to wit: computer related fraud and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 27 and punishable under Section 14 of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention Act) 2015.
“That you Abayomi Oluwasesan and Onifade Adeniyi of the same place, date and time in the aforesaid judicial division did convert the sum of $87,883,904 dollars, property of Afriq Arbitrage Company to yourselves, property derived directly from proceeds of theft with the aim of concealing or disguising the Illicit origin or source of the money and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 18(1) of the Money and (Prohibition) Act LFN.
“That you Abayomi Oluwasesan and Onifade Adeniyi, knowingly and without authority, fraudulently changed the ownership credentials of the Company Chief Executive Officer of Afriq Arbitrage Company and gained access to millions of the subscribers’ investments and diverted the sum of $87,883,904 dollars to yourselves and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 14 of Cyber Crimes (Prohibition, Prevention ETC) Act 2015.”
