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Nigerian fintech owners bag jail term in US over $167million money laundering

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The top executives of a United States-based fintech company, Ping Express have been sentenced to 27 months imprisonment for breaching money laundering rules.

The fintech executives who are Nigerians with the names Anslem Oshionebo and Opeyemi Odeyale pleaded guilty to contravening money laundering rules after sending $167 million to Africa unchecked in less than three years.

While Oshionebo is the chief executive officer, oyedale is chief operating officer and both are suspected to have laundered $160 million out the to Nigeria.

This was revealed by the US Department of Justice at the weekend as it added that the Ping Express failed to seek sufficient details about the sources or motives of the funds involved in the transactions, or the customers initiating the transmissions.

It also said part of the money sent to Nigeria was also suspected to be proceeds of internet fraud.

It went further to state that the company’s Information Technology/Business Development Manager, Aleoghena Okhumale, was said to have also pleaded guilty to knowingly transmitting illegally-derived funds.

Both Oshionebo and Oyedale were sentenced to 27 months in federal prison, but Okhumale bagged a prison sentence of 42 months.

Ping Express also admitted that it conducted money transmission business in states in which it was not licensed to do so, including Nevada, New Jersey, Utah, West Virginia, and Connecticut.

In addition, according to DOJ, one Collins Orogun admitted last week that he accepted a fee in exchange for transferring money for ‘romance scam’ fraudsters and other criminals.

In one instance, an Indiana woman sent $15,000 to ‘Carson Jacks’, a purported oil roughneck in the Gulf of Mexico she fell in love with online, after he told her he’d contracted malaria.

In another, a second Indiana woman sent $6,300 to ‘Thomas Ken,” a purported Irish ship captain she fell in love with online, to fix his ship.

In two years, Orogun received more than $1.3 million in cash, cashier’s checks, and wires into several US bank accounts he controlled and then quickly moved more than $1 million of the funds to Africa through Ping Express.

“He faces up to 20 years in federal prison and is set to be sentenced on Jan. 23, 2023,” the statement said.

Ping Express, the company, now faces five years of probation and a fine of up to $500,000. Sentencing has been set for December 19, 2022.

Crime

NDLEA arrests Canadian at Lagos airport for ‘importing bags of cannabis’

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The operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested Adrienne Munju, a Canadian, allegedly importing a large consignment of synthetic cannabis.

In a statement on Sunday, Femi Babafemi, NDLEA spokesperson, said the 41-year-old suspect was arrested on October 3 during the inward clearance of passengers on a KLM airline flight from Canada at terminal 1 of the Lagos airport.

Babafemi added that the Munju was caught with 74 parcels of the illicit substance weighing 35.20 kg stuffed in two of her three bags.

“In her statement, she claimed she was recruited to traffic the consignment through an online platform for 10,000 Canadian dollars upon successful delivery in Lagos. She said she took the offer because she needed the money to pay for her ongoing master’s degree programme in Canada,” the NDLEA statement reads.

Similarly, the anti-drug agency intercepted 13,298,000 pills of opioids and 338,253 bottles of codeine-based cough syrup at the Port Harcourt ports, Onne, Rivers.

Babafemi said the seized consignment is worth over “N9 billion in street value” and included Tramadol, Tramaking Quick Action Tramadol, Tamol-X, Royal Tapentadol and Carisoprodol, among others.

He said that the opioids were recovered in three containers coming from India, targeted by the NDLEA during a 100 per cent joint examination of the cargoes.

“NDLEA operatives at the Tincan seaport in Lagos on Thursday, October 3, intercepted 100 parcels of Canadian Loud weighing 50kg. The consignment was packed in 20 parcels, each in five jumbo bags concealed in a container with four units of imported vehicles that came from Canada,” the statement reads.

“Though the container had earlier been cleared out of the ESS Libra Bonded Terminal in Ikorodu but based on credible intelligence, NDLEA operatives were able to trace it to a warehouse in Ikorodu where the illicit consignments were discovered in one of the imported vehicles, a Toyota Sienna bus. A suspect, Abubakar Shuaibu Ibrahim has already been taken into custody in connection with the seizure.”

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Crime

EFCC arrests 43 internet fraudsters in Port Harcourt

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The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) says it has arrested 43 suspected internet fraudsters in Port Harcourt, Rivers state.

In a statement on Thursday, Dele Oyewale, EFCC spokesperson, said the suspects were arrested during a sting operation on Wednesday at Rumuekeni and Iwofe areas of the state.

“They were arrested for alleged internet fraud following actionable intelligence surveillance on their suspected involvement in computer-related offences,” the statement reads.

“Items recovered from them include different brands of mobile phones, laptops, international passports and Automated Teller Machine, ATM cards of different banks, five vehicles, two motorcycles and a Point of Sale, POS, machine.

“The suspects will be charged to court upon conclusion of investigation.”

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Crime

NDLEA seizes 1000kg of illicit substances, nabs 420 suspects in Kaduna

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The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Kaduna State Command, said its operatives have seized 1,045.93 kg of various illicit substances and arrested 420 suspects in the third quarter of the year.

Its commander, Mr Samaila Danmalam, disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria on Thursday in Kaduna.

Danmalam said, “The command had within the period under review arrested a total of 420 suspects, comprising 404 males and 16 females.

“The figure represents both drug dealers, drug users and traffickers.”

The commander also disclosed that the command has made seizures of various illicit substances.

He said, “The illicit substances included Cocaine, Cannabis Sativa, Rohypnol, Tramadol, Methamphetamine, and other psychotropic substances grossly weighing 1,045.93 kg.

“The command seized a total of 1,393 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition and equally seized four locally made arms in the course of its numerous operations in the period being reported.

“The command equally secured the conviction of 30 drug offenders and charged a total of 54 suspects, while investigations on others are ongoing.”

Danmalam said in its non-kinetic approach to combating the drug menace through drug demand reduction activities, the command carried out various sensitization and awareness programmes.

“It counselled 50 drug users while it rehabilitated 50 drug-dependent persons, who successfully recovered and were reintegrated into mainstream society,” he stated.

He said the command would continue to combat illicit drug trafficking even as he appealed for timely and useful information for quick response and proactive measures.

Last month, NDLEA operatives intercepted consignments of cocaine and pharmaceutical opioids concealed in ladies’ sanitary pads.

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Bodex F. Hungbo, SPMIIM is a multiple award-winning Nigerian Digital Media Practitioner, Digital Strategist, PR consultant, Brand and Event Expert, Tv Presenter, Tier-A Blogger/Influencer, and a top cobbler in Nigeria.

She has widespread experiences across different professions and skills, which includes experiences in; Marketing, Media, Broadcasting, Brand and Event Management, Administration and Management with prior stints at MTN, NAPIMS-NNPC, GLOBAL FLEET OIL AND GAS, LTV, Silverbird and a host of others

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