The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has declared eight individuals wanted over their alleged involvement in the fraud perpetrated by a trading platform, crypto bridge exchange (CBEX),
The eight suspects are Adefowora Olanipekun, Adefowora Oluwanisola, Emmanuel Uko, Seyi Oloyede, Johnson Okiroh Otieno, Israel Mbaluka, Joseph Michiro Kabera and Serah Michiro.
The anti-graft agency published the wanted notice across its social media platforms on Friday.
“The public is hereby notified that the persons whose photographs appear above are wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for fraud allegedly perpetrated on an online trading platform called Crypto Bridge Exhange (CBEX),” the agency said.
A federal high court in Abuja recently granted permission to the EFCC to arrest and detain six CBEX promoters over a $1 billion investment fraud allegation.
The presiding judge, Emeka Nwite, gave the order following an ex parte application moved by Fadila Yusuf, counsel to the EFCC.
In the application filed by the EFCC, the six suspects named are Olanipekun, Oluwanisola, Uko, Oloyede, Avwerosuo Otorudo and Chukwuebuka Ehirim.
The EFCC told the court that preliminary investigation had revealed that the suspects “using their company, ST Technologies International Limited, promoted another company Crypto Bridge Exchange (CBEX) by making adverts and lured unsuspecting members of the public to invest crypto cryptocurrencies on the CBEX investment platform.”
The anti-graft agency said the defendants promised an unrealistic return on investment of up to 100 per cent.
Earlier in April, reports emerged that CBEX users could no longer withdraw their funds. Many Nigerians who had invested in the platforms reportedly lost their funds.
Angry investors stormed and looted the office of Smart Treasure (ST Team), an affiliate of CBEX, in Ibadan, Oyo state capital.
