Justice Daniel Osiagor of the Federal High Court, Lagos Division, on Wednesday convicted and sentenced two Chinese nationals and directors of Genting International Co. Limited, Huang Haoyu, also known as Ken, and An Hongxu, to a cumulative 46 years’ imprisonment each, or an option of a ₦56 million fine, over a multi-billion-naira cybercrime and money laundering scheme.

Naija News reports that the court also ordered the convicts to undertake three days of community service and directed that they be repatriated to their country of origin after serving their sentences and completing the community service.

The duo were among 792 suspected internet and cryptocurrency fraud suspects arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in Lagos in December 2024.

However, the second defendant, Audu Friday, pleaded not guilty to the charges and will face trial.

At the resumed hearing on Wednesday, counsel to the first and second defendants, Miss Bridget Omateno, informed the court that the two directors had decided to change their pleas from not guilty to guilty.

She recalled that on the last adjourned date, the court had been informed that counsel on record had been debriefed.

Although there was no plea bargain agreement, she said the first and third defendants applied to change their pleas and urged the court to direct that the charges be read to them afresh.

When the registrar re-read the seven-count charge, Huang Haoyu and An Hongxu pleaded guilty, while Audu Friday maintained his plea of not guilty.

Prosecution counsel, Bilkisu Buhari-Bala, urged the court to convict the two men in view of their admission.

She noted that the prosecution had earlier called two witnesses before the change of plea and informed the court that the offences in counts one and two attract life imprisonment, while counts three and four carry 14-year jail terms.

“I humbly pray your lordship to impose the maximum sentence on the convicts in order to serve as a deterrent to the public,” she submitted.

She also asked the court to order the forfeiture of all items recovered during investigations, including properties located on Oyin Jolayemi Street and Bishop Oluwole Street in Victoria Island, as well as any investments traced to the first and third defendants.

In his judgment, Justice Osiagor convicted and sentenced the two directors to a cumulative 46 years’ imprisonment each, with an option of ₦56 million fine.

The court further ordered forfeiture of extensive assets recovered from multiple locations in Victoria Island and Ikoyi to the Federal Government.

Items forfeited include:

1,596 mobile phones;

2,120 office chairs;

544 office tables;

194 routers;

43 computer systems and a network server;

126 air-conditioning units;

Generators and vehicles;

Hundreds of mattresses and bunk beds;

Thousands of SIM cards across different networks;

Numerous electronic devices and household items.

The properties were recovered from premises at No. 7 Oyin Jolayemi Street, Victoria Island; Plot 1220 Bishop Oluwole Street, Victoria Island; 54A A.J. Marinho Drive, Victoria Island; and No. 14A Modupe Alakija Crescent, Ikoyi.

According to the charge, the defendants allegedly conspired in 2024 to wilfully access computer systems organised to seriously destabilise Nigeria’s economic and social structure by procuring and employing Nigerian youths to falsely represent themselves as foreign nationals for financial gain, contrary to the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc.) Act, 2015, as amended in 2024.

They were also accused of procuring individuals to retain $1,262,000 USDT in a Binance wallet and $1,300,203 USDT in a Bybit wallet — sums they reasonably ought to have known formed part of proceeds of unlawful activity, contrary to the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.

The charge further alleged that between August and December 2024, they retained ₦3,407,824,740.78 in Genting International Co. Limited’s Union Bank account, funds believed to be proceeds of fraud.

They were also said to have transferred ₦913,922,740.29 to an account belonging to Duliang Pan, who is currently at large, and ₦106,950,000 to Lagos Oriental Hotel Limited.

Separate counts against Audu Friday and the company include alleged unlawful foreign exchange transactions running into billions of naira and failure to submit required declarations to the Special Control Unit Against Money Laundering.

Proceedings are expected to continue against Audu Friday, who has maintained his innocence.