The Federal Government of Nigeria has filed criminal charges against four individuals and several firms for allegedly conducting cryptocurrency-related businesses without valid banking licenses.
The defendants were also charged with violating the Foreign Exchange (Monitoring and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act by illegally exchanging Tether USDT for naira.
The individuals are identified as Ejiogu A. Chinedu, Nnamdi F. Okereke, Oty Ugochukwu Stanley, and Chukwuebuka F. Ogumba. According to court documents, they engaged in specialized financial activities without the necessary licenses and illegally exchanged Tether USDT for naira.
The government is seeking penalties against the defendants for allegedly contravening the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act of 2020.
This action is part of a larger investigation into potential tax evasion and foreign exchange offenses related to cryptocurrency platforms.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had previously obtained a court order on September 4, 2024, to freeze N548.6 million in bank accounts linked to suspected cryptocurrency users on platforms like ByBit and KuCoin.
The freeze follows intelligence from the National Security Adviser, which alleged money laundering, foreign exchange contraventions, and terrorism financing activities on certain cryptocurrency exchange platforms.
Months ago, the Central Bank of Nigeria has expressed concerns regarding cryptocurrency trading, particularly its potential impact on the naira’s stability and the overall economy.
The CBN Governor, Yemi Cardoso, highlighted that a staggering $26bn had flowed through Binance Nigeria from unidentified sources over the past year, raising alarms about the influence of cryptocurrency on currency manipulation and economic destabilization.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has also taken steps to regulate cryptocurrency transactions, delisting the naira from all P2P trading platforms and granting approval to only two local exchanges, Quidax and Busha.
