The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Tuesday arraigned 11 Chinese nationals before the Federal High Court in Lagos on charges of cyber fraud, identity theft, and an alleged attempt to destabilize Nigeria’s constitutional structure.
The defendants, identified as Wang Xiong Wei (alias Xiao Bai), Chen Dong Dong (alias Cun Zhao), Chen Yuan (alias Xiao Doa), Wu Yuan An (alias Zeng Niu), Wang Gong Lin (alias Wang Jing Lin), and Weng Mao Rong (alias A Xiang), pleaded not guilty to the charges. Additionally, five other Chinese nationals—Liu Ke Fan (alias Lina, Lui Chen), Huang Hai Tao, Zhang Jian Feng, Wu A Wang, and Xiao Xin—also faced prosecution on separate but related offenses.
The EFCC alleged that the suspects were involved in cybercrimes, cyberterrorism, possession of fraudulent documents, and identity theft. Prosecutors further accused them of recruiting Nigerian youths into sophisticated cyber fraud schemes.
One of the charges leveled against Liu Ke Fan alleged that he impersonated a 28-year-old American named Lina, purportedly residing in Germany, as part of a romance scam and cryptocurrency fraud operation. According to the EFCC, Liu Ke Fan “fraudulently impersonated a U.S. citizen using a fake profile on his company’s Maya desktop computer to gain advantage for himself and his syndicate.”
The anti-graft agency also disclosed that Liu provided false information to investigators by presenting himself as Liu Chen in an attempt to mislead authorities and conceal his involvement in a criminal syndicate specializing in romance scams, cryptocurrency fraud, and cyberterrorism.
The EFCC revealed that the arrested individuals are part of a larger syndicate comprising 792 members engaged in cryptocurrency investment fraud and online scams targeting victims worldwide. Their arrests were made during a raid on December 19, 2024, in Lagos, in an operation codenamed “Eagle Flush Operation.”
Tuesday’s arraignment comes just a day after the EFCC charged 42 Chinese and Filipino nationals for similar offenses before the same Federal High Court in Lagos.
Following their not-guilty pleas, Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke ordered that the defendants be remanded at the Ikoyi Correctional Centre pending further court proceedings.
The case is expected to continue in the coming weeks as prosecutors present evidence against the defendants.
