Two Nigerian crypto firms, Egomsinachi Road Autos Limited, and Chimera Log & Haulage Services Limited, have been ordered by the Federal High Court in Abuja to pay a fine of $30,000 for performing unlawful USDT to Naira transactions, as reported by Nairametrics.
Justice Joyce AbdulMalik’s ruling is part of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s (EFCC) campaign against unaccredited crypto trading platforms in Nigeria.
The judgment further demands that both companies pay N50 million ($30,000) to the EFCC recovery account. The court also ordered N500,000 fines each from the companies and the director, Chukwubuka Felix Ogumba, who was directed to enter into an affidavit of good behavior.
EFCC’s Crackdown on Unauthorized Crypto Transactions Intensifies Amid New Convictions
Frozen developed from the charges preferring against Ogumba, where the two companies were convicted after he pleaded guilty to unlicensed financial trading and not reporting money transactions to the SCUML. This brings us to Section 11(3) of Nigeria’s Money Laundering (Prevention & Prohibition) Act, 2022.
Nigerian Court convicts two more crypto firms over unlicensed USDT-Naira trading, transfers N50 million to FG https://t.co/SMnewKmznY
— Nairametrics (@Nairametrics) November 7, 2024
These firms’ convictions are part of the EFCC’s broader push to crack down on unauthorized USDT-to-Naira exchanges and other unlawful actions. The agency is probing several entities for alleged attempts to exploit such cryptos to influence exchange rates, engage in money laundering, and conduct illegal cross-border transactions.
In February of this year, the court fined two other Nigerian companies, Paparaxy Global Ventures Limited and Lemskin Technologies Limited, N 160 million, equivalent to $95 thousand, for unlawful operations they conducted with cryptocurrencies. The EFCC has since blocked over $325,000 in accounts linked to persons or companies that engaged in unauthorized deals in cryptos.
This most recent court move is a sign of the evolving crackdown on cryptocurrencies by the federal government of Nigeria. The EFCC has actively enforced stringent regulations in Nigeria’s financial sector.
