Nigerian Court Convicts Crypto Firm for Unlicensed USDT-Naira Trading, Transfers N140 Million to FG

The Federal High Court in Abuja has convicted a Nigerian cryptocurrency trading company, Official Gredo Limited, for illegally carrying out USDT-Naira transactions without a banking license.

Justice Inyang Ekwo on Wednesday convicted the official Gredo in accordance with the company’s plea bargain agreement with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), while ordering the forfeiture of the N140 million held in the account of the company to the EFCC recovery account.

The conviction in Case No: FHC/ABJ/CR/308/2024 followed the guilty plea of Nnamdi Okereke, the director of the company, when the amended charge of money laundering was read to him.

What happened in court

At Wednesday’s arraignment, the company was accused of failing to report in writing to the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) a single transfer of N76,462,500.00 paid by Renderstack Technologies Ltd to the Providus account Bank Ltd No. 5400608751 managed by civil servant Gredo. , as specified in section 10(1)(b) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act 2011.

Nairametrics reports that the company and Okereke, among several companies and individuals, were indicted by the EFCC for publicly trading Dollar Tether (USDT) against the Naira, despite not being an authorized dealer in the market Autonomous Foreign Exchange of Nigeria.

Okereke pleaded guilty to one count.

Subsequently, EFCC Counsel, Martha Babatunde, Esq., and counsel to the accused, IO Offodili, urged the court to confirm the contents of the plea agreement as agreed by the parties .

According to the plea agreement, the defendant admitted committing the offense and returned N140,000,000 to the EFCC, forming part of the amount associated with the disputed transaction.

In issuing his ruling, Ekwo condemned the company and upheld the plea bargain agreement.

The judge said the plea bargain agreement between the plaintiff and defendant will not prevent further investigations from being conducted into other individuals or companies in relation to the case.

He said the Director of the respondent shall, at all material and reasonable times, be available to assist the EFCC during further investigations relating to this matter.

“The respondent shall forfeit the sum of N140,000,000 recovered by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission during the course of investigation to the Federal Government of Nigeria.

“The sum of N140,000,000 being the amount returned by the defendant shall be deducted from the account of CZMUNCH FABRICATORS AND WIRING VENTURES—CHIMERA LOGISTICS AND HAULAGE SERVICES, with account number 5435830566 domiciled at Moniepoint Microfinance Bank, which shall be transferred to the EFCC. Recovery Account”, Ekwo said.

The judge then fined the company one million naira, specifying that this was to be paid to the Federal Government of Nigeria.

Ekwo opined that the defendants should pay the amounts within fourteen days or else the EFCC should bring back the director to be sent to prison.

What you need to know

This is the latest conviction of a Nigerian crypto company for unlicensed USDT-Naira transactions.

Nairametrics previously reported that two Nigerian crypto trading companies, Paparaxy Global Ventures Limited and Lemskin Technologies Limited, had repaid N160,000,000 to the Federal Government after being indicted for allegedly illegally conducting the activities of other financial institutions.

The case arises from the ongoing investigation by the EFCC, which revealed that several bank accounts are linked to individuals allegedly using virtual cryptocurrency exchange platforms to illegally manipulate the value of the Naira and launder the proceeds. proceeds of illegal activities.