{"id":163891,"date":"2025-05-23T23:28:55","date_gmt":"2025-05-23T22:28:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/uncategorized\/cyber-terrorism-nigerian-court-jails-18-foreign-nationals"},"modified":"2025-05-24T00:45:14","modified_gmt":"2025-05-23T23:45:14","slug":"cyber-terrorism-nigerian-court-jails-18-foreign-nationals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/cyber-terrorism-nigerian-court-jails-18-foreign-nationals","title":{"rendered":"Cyber Terrorism: Nigerian court jails 18 foreign nationals"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Nigeria. <\/strong><\/span>A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has convicted and jailed 18 foreign nationals, for one year each for cybercrime, fraud, impersonation and attempting to destabilize Nigeria\u2019s constitutional structure.<\/p>\n

The convicts, who initially pleaded not guilty, changed their pleas under a plea bargain agreement with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.<\/p>\n

Presiding Justices Chukwujekwu Aneke and Yellim Bogoro delivered the judgments in two separate rulings.<\/p>\n

The convicts were among 193 foreign nationals arrested by EFCC operatives in December 2024 at a seven-storey building on Oyin Jolayemi Street, Victoria Island, Lagos. In total, 792 suspects were apprehended in connection with a global cybercrime and cryptocurrency fraud syndicate.<\/p>\n

Justice Aneke sentenced six defendants\u2014Eliza Gapparova, Diana Kadyrbekova, Nasrine Chouaieb, Jiang Han Hua, Liao Zhang, and Genting International Co. Limited\u2014on charges of cyberterrorism, identity theft, and using Nigerian youths to impersonate foreign nationals for financial gain.<\/p>\n

The convictions were entered pursuant to a plea bargain agreement between the prosecution, led by Zeinat Atiku, and defence counsel Osuala Nwafbara, Z.S. Makinde, and Peter Taiwo.<\/p>\n

Justice Bogoro similarly sentenced 12 Philippine nationals\u2014Jean Calatar Maunfo, Donne Reges, Roseann Gonzaus, Mary Grace Dela Piazza Camara, Lari Jane Tayae, Jonilyn Agulto, Jonalyn Mendoza, Anjeannet Topacio, and Arramef Topacio\u2014under the same terms.<\/p>\n

The court\u2019s decision followed arguments by prosecution counsel Hanatu Kofanaisa and Temitope Banjo, while Bridget Omateno appeared for the defence.<\/p>\n

According to the EFCC, the convicts were members of an international syndicate that operated a fraudulent network known as \u201cHK.\u201d<\/p>\n

The operation reportedly involved over 1,500 laptops and 4,000 phones and trained both Nigerian and foreign youths in romance and investment scams targeting victims in the US, Canada, Mexico, and Europe.<\/p>\n

Genting International Company Limited, allegedly controlled by the syndicate\u2019s ringleaders, was incorporated in mid-2024 and employed 200 Chinese nationals to recruit and supervise Nigerian youths involved in the schemes.<\/p>\n

The EFCC told the court that the suspects operated from the Victoria Island facility, which was disguised as a corporate financial headquarters, and used Nigerian VPNs to conceal their activities.<\/p>\n

The scams were perpetrated via platforms such as WhatsApp, Instagram, Telegram, and a fake investment website, http:\/\/www.yooto.com, which charged victims fees starting from $35.<\/p>\n

One defendant\u2019s account allegedly received over N3.4 billion in fraudulent proceeds.<\/p>\n

Under the plea agreement, the convicts were sentenced to one year in prison, retroactive to their arrest on December 10, 2024.<\/p>\n

They are also to pay a fine of N1 million each. Upon completion of their sentences and payment of fines, they will be deported within seven days.<\/p>\n

The court also ordered the forfeiture of all mobile phones, laptops, and routers used in the crimes to the Federal Government of Nigeria.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Nigeria<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Nigeria. A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has convicted and jailed 18 foreign nationals, for one year each for cybercrime, fraud, impersonation and attempting to destabilize Nigeria\u2019s constitutional structure. The convicts, who initially pleaded not guilty, changed their pleas under a plea bargain agreement with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":163890,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,30],"tags":[69,17415,254],"class_list":["post-163891","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","tag-court","tag-cyber-terrorism","tag-nigeria"],"yoast_head":"\nCyber Terrorism: Nigerian court jails 18 foreign nationals - Nigeria<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has convicted and jailed 18 foreign nationals, for one year each for cybercrime, f ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/cyber-terrorism-nigerian-court-jails-18-foreign-nationals\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cyber Terrorism: Nigerian court jails 18 foreign nationals\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has convicted and jailed 18 foreign nationals, for one year each for cybercrime, f ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/cyber-terrorism-nigerian-court-jails-18-foreign-nationals\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nigeria\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-05-23T22:28:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-05-23T23:45:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/05\/sm_1748031352.151935.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"719\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/cyber-terrorism-nigerian-court-jails-18-foreign-nationals#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/cyber-terrorism-nigerian-court-jails-18-foreign-nationals\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Cyber Terrorism: Nigerian court jails 18 foreign nationals\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-23T22:28:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-05-23T23:45:14+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/cyber-terrorism-nigerian-court-jails-18-foreign-nationals\"},\"wordCount\":459,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/cyber-terrorism-nigerian-court-jails-18-foreign-nationals#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/05\/sm_1748031352.151935.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"court\",\"Cyber-terrorism\",\"Nigeria\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Community\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/cyber-terrorism-nigerian-court-jails-18-foreign-nationals#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/cyber-terrorism-nigerian-court-jails-18-foreign-nationals\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/cyber-terrorism-nigerian-court-jails-18-foreign-nationals\",\"name\":\"Cyber Terrorism: Nigerian court jails 18 foreign nationals - 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