Seven Chinese nationals were found guilty and given one-year jail sentences by a Federal High Court in Lagos State for their involvement in cyberterrorism and online fraud related to a significant Ponzi scheme that was discovered in December 2024.
Following a raid on a property on Oyin Jolayemi Street in Lagos, members of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) detained the following inmates: Peng Li Huan, Zhang Jin Rong, He Kun, Rachelle Cabalona, Caselyn Pionela, Guo Long Long, and Zhang Hua Zhai.
Over 700 people were apprehended as a result of the operation, which officials termed as one of the biggest cybercrime crackdowns in recent memory.
They were separately arraigned before Justices Ayokunle Faji, Chukwujekwu Aneke, and Yellim Bogoro on amended one-count charges relating to cyberterrorism and internet fraud.
According to the EFCC’s Lagos Zonal Directorate 1, the prosecution team, led by Bilkisu Buhari-Bala, Chineye Okezie, and Banjo Temitop, told the court that the defendants had opted for plea bargain agreements. These agreements were formally submitted on June 20, 2025.
All seven defendants pleaded guilty and confirmed that they entered into the plea bargains voluntarily.
Upon acceptance of their pleas, the court sentenced all seven Chinese to one year in prison and imposed a monetary fine of N1 million on each of them.
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The court also directed the Comptroller-General of the Nigerian Immigration Service to facilitate the deportation of the convicts to their respective countries within seven days of completing their sentences.
The amended charge alleged that the defendants, in December 2024, knowingly accessed computer systems with the intent to undermine Nigeria’s economic and social stability by recruiting local youths to engage in identity theft and impersonation of foreign nationals for illicit financial gain.
Their actions contravene Section 18 of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act, 2015 (as amended in 2024), and Section 2(3)(d) of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
