Nigerian politician detained for cryptocurrency exchange violations

Nigerian politician Ambassador Wilfred Bonse has been arrested by the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) in connection with a security breach suffered by cryptocurrency exchange Patricia Technologies Limited. This development comes as Patricia failed to pay customer debt on time after suffering a $2 million exploit in 2022.

Former Nigerian Governor Candidate Suspected of Theft and Money Laundering

At a press conference on November 24, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) and NPF Public Relations Officer Olumuyiwa Adejobi shared an update on the investigation of the “Complex Financial Fraud Case” filed by Patricia Technologies Limited in a petition to the police.

The petition highlights several criminal acts, including alleged theft, illegal conversion of assets in crypto wallets, and unauthorized transfer of funds from Patricia Flutterwave accounts.

In addition, Patricia’s petition also lists the names of specific suspects who are currently at large. However, the National Police Force arrested an ambu. Wilfred Bonse, Nigerian politician and former gubernatorial candidate for Cross River State in the last national elections

Bonse admitted to being involved in the financial crime and said his bank account was used for money laundering, of which 50 million naira ($62,368.30) was 607 million naira ($757,151.16) stolen from Patricia’s corporate account.

In response to this development, Patricia CEO Hanu Fejiro Agbodje said that it was possible to breathe a sigh of relief for the time being due to the arrest of one of the culprits of a financial scheme that had caused heavy losses to the company.

He said:

"It’s a great relief. We were finally proven right, as quite a few people didn’t believe that our platform was hacked in the first place. But thanks to the diligence of the Nigerian Police and the unwavering commitment of our colleagues, we are glad that our customers now have more reasons to continue to trust us, and the dark days are over. ”

Patricia Defaulted Debt Repayment Plan

In other news, Patricia’s troubles remain as the Nigerian Exchange has now failed to comply with its debt repayment plan. In October, Patricia promised clients that it would begin repaying the funds in bulk on a first-come, first-served basis on November 20.

The statement comes after the Nigerian Exchange halted withdrawals in May due to an excessive number of withdrawal requests after news reports revealed that the trading platform had suffered a $2 million hack last year. However, a few days after the proposed repayment date, some users of the crypto exchange still can’t access their funds, which has brought more scrutiny to the struggling crypto exchange.