LAGOS COURT FINDS CRYPTOCURRENCY TRADER GUILTY OF FRAUD

Babatunji Wusu –

Lawrence Success Karinate, a Peer-to-Peer (P2P) crypto dealer, was found guilty of computer-related fraud by the Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos.

Karinate was tried by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s (EFCC) Lagos Zonal Command, and Justice Nicholas Oweibo found him guilty, according to a statement released on Monday.

Karinate was charged with one count of cybercrime-related offenses, which is a violation of and subject to punishment under Section 22(2)(b) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition etc.) Act, 2015, according to the EFCC.

“That you Lawrence Success Karinate, sometime in 2023, within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, with intent to defraud, fraudulently represented yourself on social media platforms as a female, bearing the name “Jessie Randall,” a fashion influencer, with the intent to gain advantage for yourself and you thereby committed an offense, contrary to and punishable under Section 22(2)(b) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition etc.) Act, 2015,” the court’s complaint reads.

Karinate entered a “guilty” plea to the single count of the charge brought against him, and as a result, the EFCC’s attorney, Usman Abubakar Ahmad, invited witness Taiwo Owolabi, an anti-graft commission agent, to assess the case’s facts.

On May 26, 2023, the defendant and several others, according to Owolabi, were detained in the Lekki district of Lagos State.

His iPhone and HP computer were examined at the EFCC office after his arrest, according to the organization.

“Fraudulent documents were printed from his devices, and he paid N100,000.00 (One Hundred Thousand Naira) in compensation.

He was questioned further and revealed that he had participated in a pig-butchering fraud and earned $2000 (two thousand dollars) from it.

According to the EFCC, a sort of fraud in which perpetrators entice victims into online connections to gain their trust before persuading them to invest in cryptocurrency platforms is the “pig butchering scam.”

Usman subsequently filed a request to present the defendant’s extrajudicial statement, fake documents printed from his laptop, iPhone, and iPad, as well as the management check he himself issued, as evidence.

Justice Oweibo found him guilty on all charges after admitting them as evidence A, B, C, C1, D, and E, respectively.

Karinate apologized for his part in the illegal behavior in his allocutus and gave the court his word that he wouldn’t commit online fraud ever again.

Chikezie Kingsley, the defendant’s attorney, begged the court for leniency while pointing out that the defendant was a first-time offender.

Justice Oweibo condemned him to a N200,000 fine in his ruling.