Court orders arrest of six CBEX Promoters over alleged $1bn Crypto scam

The Federal High Court in Abuja has approved the request of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission—EFCC to arrest and detain six promoters of Crypto Bridge Exchange(CBEX) over an alleged investment fraud close to a $1 billion.

Justice Emeka Nwite gave the order on Thursday after listening to submissions from Fadila Yusuf, counsel to the EFCC.

The EFCC sought the court’s permission to arrest and keep the suspects in custody while investigations continue.

The six(6) individuals named in the ex parte motion filed on April 23 are Adefowora Olanipekun, Adefowora Oluwanisola, Emmanuel Uko, Seyi Oloyede, Avwerosuo Otorudo, and Chukwuebuka Ehirim.

The suspects were accused of promoting CBEX, convincing people to invest in cryptocurrency through their platform while promising extremely high and enticing returns.

“The victims were required to convert their digital assets into USDT, a stablecoin, and deposit them into the suspects’ cryptocurrency wallets,” the affidavit stated.

At first, investors could monitor their investments through the CBEX platform but after over $1 billion was deposited, the platform was shut down, and victims who invested could no longer access their assets.

The Commission said the fraud was carried out through ST Technologies International Ltd in partnership with CBEX.

Further investigations brought to light that although ST Technologies was registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission(CAC), it was never licensed by the Securities and Exchange Commission(SEC) to run an investment business.

It was also discovered during the investigation that "the defendants had moved out of their last known address in Lagos State and Ogun State."

The Anti-graft agency said obtaining a warrant of arrest was necessary in order to place the defendants on a watch list and enabling authorities to track and apprehend the suspects to face the charges brought against them.

Justice Emeka Nwite 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.

“I have listened to the submission of the learned counsel for the applicant,” Nwite said.

“I have also gone through the affidavit evidence with exhibits thereto, along with the written address.

“I am of the view and I so hold that the application is meritorious.