TL;DR Breakdown
- Man sentenced to prison in Nigeria for crypto scam.
- Crypto scam to rise in Nigeria – analysts.
The Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) in Nigeria has secured the imprisonment of one crypto scammer, Victor Ogaraku, for Bitcoin theft.
Victor was convicted on a one-count charge of obtaining money under false pretense. Justice Mobolaji Olajuwon sentenced him at a Federal High Court in Markurdi, Benue State.
According to the court document obtained by Cryptopolitan, it reads “That you, Victor Chinemerem Ogaraku, sometime in November 2020, in Makurdi, within the jurisdiction of the Honourable Court, with intent to defraud, did obtain the aggregate sum of N257,500 ($551) from one Otokpa Joseph Orinya as payment for cryptocurrency, under the pretense that you have same for sale, which you knew was false and thereby committed an offense contrary to Section 1 (1)(a) and punishable under Section 1 (3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006.″
Victor pleaded guilty to the Bitcoin theft and was sentenced to jail for six months or to pay a fine worth $120.
Spate of Bitcoin theft to rise in Nigeria
Following the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) directive, all financial institutions should halt support for cryptocurrency and freeze accounts of Crypto traders; there has been a shift in the pattern of Crypto operations in Nigeria, with many traders relying on the P2P market.
The P2P market has been the saving grace for many crypto traders in the country as the rise in the number of operators in the market has made scammers, and other Bitcoin thieves infiltrate the market.
Analysts after the CBN ban have predicted that there would be a surge in Bitcoin theft as a result of reliance on P2P. Their predictions appear to be coming true as they urged Bitcoin traders in the country to be careful while trading on several unsecured P2P platforms.
With an anticipated surge in Bitcoin theft and crypto theft via P2P, Cryptopolitan urges our Nigerian readers to be careful as you trade.
