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Crypto Firm Convicted of over unlicensed USDT-Naira trading, Transfers N140 million to FG
Unlicensed USDT Naira Transfer: The Federal High Court in Abuja has convicted Official Gredo Limited, a Nigerian cryptocurrency trading company, for conducting unlicensed USDT to Naira transactions.
High Court Convicts Official Gredo Over Unlicensed USDT Naira Transfer
Justice Inyang Ekwo convicted Official Gredo on Wednesday in accordance with the company’s plea bargain arrangement with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), while ordering the forfeiture of N140 million held in the company’s account to the EFCC recovery account.
The sentencing in suit no: FHC/ABJ/CR/308/2024 followed a guilty plea by Nnamdi Okereke, the company’s director when the amended money laundering charge was read to him.
At the arraignment on Wednesday, 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 from Renderstack Technologies Ltd into the Providus Bank Ltd account No. 5400608751 operated by Official Gredo, as specified under section 10(1)(b) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011.
Also, EFCC lawyer Martha Babatunde, Esq., and the defendant’s counsel, I.O. Offodili, urged the court to affirm the contents of the plea bargain as agreed by the parties.
As part of the plea bargain, Okereke admitted to committing the offence and returned N140 million to the EFCC.
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EFCC Fight Against Naira Manipulators
The court ordered the forfeiture of this amount to the EFCC recovery account and imposed a fine of N1 million on the company.
Passing his ruling, Ekwo convicted the company and affirmed the plea bargain agreement.
The judge stated that the plea bargain agreement between the complainant and the defendant shall not prevent further investigations from being carried out on other persons or companies with respect to the case.
The judge said, “The Defendant shall forfeit the sum of N140,000,000 recovered by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in the course of the investigation to the Federal Government of Nigeria.
“The sum of N140,000,000 being the amount restituted 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 in Moniepoint Microfinance Bank, which will be transferred to the EFCC Recovery Account,”
This ruling is part of the EFCC’s ongoing investigation into cryptocurrency exchange platforms allegedly manipulating the Naira’s value and laundering unlawful proceeds.
Recently, two other crypto firms, Paparaxy Global Ventures Limited and Lemskin Technologies Limited, refunded N160 million to the federal government after being indicted for unlicensed transactions.
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