Grapevine

FG sues four unlicensed crypto traders

The accused individuals, identified as, Nnamdi Okereke, Oty Stanley, Ejiogu Chinedu, and Chukwuebuka Ogumba, engaged in specialised financial activities without the necessary licenses, breaching the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act, 2020, the document showed.

The government is seeking penalties against the defendants in alleging that they contravened the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act of 2020.

Part of the court document read, “That you, NNAMDI FRANCIS OKEREKE (A.K.A GREDO) and OFFICIAL GREDO, between January 2021 and December 2021, in Abuja, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, carried on the specialised business of another financial institution without a valid license, and thereby committed an offense contrary to Section 57(1) and (2) of the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act, 2020, and punishable under Section 57(5) of the same Act.

“That you, NNAMDI FRANCIS OKEREKE (A.K.A GREDO) and OFFICIAL GREDO, between January 2021 and December 2021, in Abuja, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, not being an authorized dealer in the Nigeria Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market, negotiated United States Dollar Tether (USDT) against Naira with the public, and thereby committed an offense contrary to and punishable under Section 29(1)(c) of the Foreign Exchange (Monitoring and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act.”

This action by the Federal Government is part of a broader investigation into alleged foreign exchange violations and tax evasion associated with these platforms, which are accused of contributing to the devaluation of the naira.