The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned four Chinese nationals before two separate courts of the Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos, over allegations of cryptocurrency investment fraud, cybercrime, and identity theft.
The accused—Xia Guang Can, Li Xu Xin, Zhang Xue Hui, and Lu Yubo—were among the 792 suspected members of a syndicate apprehended during the EFCC’s “Eagle Flush Operation” on December 10, 2024.
The operation targeted a network allegedly involved in cryptocurrency-related scams and romance fraud schemes.
Three of the defendants—Can, Xin, and Hui—were arraigned on separate charges before Justice M. Kakaki, while Yubo faced a two-count charge before Justice Ayokunle Faji.
The charges include internet fraud, cyber-terrorism, possession of fraudulent documents, advance fee fraud, and identity theft.
One of the charges against Hui states: “That you, ZHANG XUE HUI, sometime in December 2024, at Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, caused to be accessed a computer system used for the purpose of destabilizing and destroying the economy and social structure of Nigeria, thereby committing an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 18(1) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc.) Act 2015.”
Similarly, Yubo and his company, Genting International Co. Limited, were accused of orchestrating a scheme to employ Nigerian youths for identity theft and other forms of cyber fraud. One of the charges against him reads: “That you, Lu Yubo, and Genting International Co. Limited, on or about December 11, 2024, at No.7, Oyin Jolayemi Street, Victoria Island, Ikoyi, Lagos, within the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court of Nigeria, willfully accessed a computer system organized to seriously destabilize the economic and social structure of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, thereby committing an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 18 of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition and Prevention, etc.) Act, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2015 (as amended).”
All four defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges when they were read to them in court. Prosecution counsel Fanen Anum and Ahmed Yerima requested a trial date and urged the court to remand the defendants in a Correctional Centre. Defense lawyers, on the other hand, requested a short adjournment to file bail applications.
Justice Kakaki scheduled the trial of Can, Xin, and Hui for March 18, 2025, and ordered that they be remanded in a Correctional Centre. Meanwhile, Justice Faji fixed Yubo’s trial for March 31 and April 3, 2025, also directing that he be held at the Ikoyi Correctional Centre.
The EFCC continues its crackdown on cybercriminal networks, particularly those leveraging cryptocurrency scams to defraud unsuspecting individuals in Nigeria and beyond.
