A Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the arrest of six Crypto Bridge Exchange (CBEX) promoters over investment fraud.
Justice Emeka Nwite gave the order following an ex parte application filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) through Fadila Yusuf, its counsel.
The six suspects are Adefowora Olanipekun, Adefowora Oluwanisola, Emmanuel Uko, Seyi Oloyede, Avwerosuo Otorudo and Chukwuebuka Ehirim.
They anti-graft commission prayed the court for an order remanding the defendants in the custody pending the conclusion of investigation of the alleged offences and possible prosecution.
In the affidavit in support of the motion, the EFCC said preliminary investigation into the intel revealed that the defendants “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 EFCC said the defendants promised an unrealistic return on investment of up to 100 percent.
“The victims were made to convert their digital assets into a stablecoin of USDT for onward deposit into the suspects’ crypto wallet.”
“The victims were initially given full access to the platform to monitor their investment. Following the deposits valued at over $1 billion by the victims, the CBEX investment platform became inaccessible to them, and they could no longer withdraw from the investment made.
“The victims later discovered that the said scheme is a scam.
“During the course of investigation, it was discovered that the said ST Technologies International Limited, though registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), it was not registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for investment purposes.
“It was also discovered during the investigation that the defendants had moved out of their last known address in Lagos and Ogun states,” EFCC said through its counsel.
The anti-graft agency said obtaining a warrant of arrest was necessary in order to place the defendants on a watch list, enabling authorities to trace and apprehend the suspects to face the charges brought against them.
The judge granted the request for a warrant of arrest and remand, adding that the order was necessary to enable the commission to apprehend the defendants and conclude its investigation.
Daily Trust had reported how Nigerians who invested in the platform counted their losses.
aAbout N1.3trillion was reportedly wiped out from the investors’ account after the digital trading platform which boasted of giving investors 100 per cent Return On Investment in 30 days.
Speaking on Arise Xchange, Director-General (DG) of the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC), Dr Emomotimi Agama, had said the CBEX digital trading platform was not registered with the regulatory agency.
He also said the SEC had not received any formal complaint on the operations of the CBEX trading platform.
The DG said the commission had consistently warned that any investment scheme that is not registered is illegal.
He said: “It’s important to state clearly that the SEC was not aware of the illegal operation of CBEX and what happened often with schemes like this is that most people will always try to keep it away from the regulator and even keep it away from their friends except a few group of persons whom they are interested in.
“For us at the SEC, as we speak today, at this hour, we have not received any formal complaint from anyone regarding CBEX because if we had received any formal complaint regarding CBEX, the team at the SEC would have actually swung into action, trying to get who and who is involved.”
He sympathised with the victims and vowed that the regulator would immediately begin a probe with a view to hunting down the operators.
