The Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, has convicted and sentenced one man for money laundering and four Bureau de Change (BDC) operators for engaging in illegal foreign exchange transactions, in separate prosecutions by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Justice Akintayo Aluko handed down the judgments after the defendants pleaded guilty to the charges brought against them by the Lagos Zonal Directorate 1 of the EFCC.
The court sentenced Sunmonu Olasunkanmi Thaoban to four years imprisonment for laundering proceeds of crime through the purchase of a luxury vehicle.
According to the EFCC, the convict, while acting as a middleman in 2023, concealed the origin of ₦16 million in illicit funds by converting the money into the purchase of a black 2018 G-Wagon Jeep, an act that contravenes the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
After pleading guilty to the two-count charge, the prosecution reviewed the facts of the case and urged the court to convict him.
Justice Aluko subsequently sentenced Sunmonu to four years imprisonment with an option of a ₦1.8 million fine.
The court also ordered the forfeiture of the black G-Wagon SUV and the convict’s mobile phone to the Federal Government as proceeds of unlawful activity.
In a related judgment, the court convicted four Bureau de Change operators for conducting foreign exchange transactions outside the official foreign exchange market.
The convicts—Umar Muhammad Lamido, Yusuf Musa Yusuf, Abdulmuhimin Mahmud and Muhammed Musa—were separately arraigned on one-count charges bordering on illegal foreign exchange trading.
The EFCC accused the operators of engaging in unauthorised forex transactions in violation of the National Economic Intelligence Committee Establishment Act, 1994, which restricts such activities to approved official channels.
All four defendants pleaded guilty when the charges were read to them
Following their guilty pleas, the prosecution presented the facts before the court and requested appropriate punishment.
Justice Aluko convicted each of the defendants and sentenced them to 12 months imprisonment, with an option of a ₦100,000 fine each.
The convictions underscore the EFCC’s sustained enforcement efforts against money laundering and illegal foreign exchange transactions as part of measures aimed at protecting the integrity of Nigeria’s financial system.
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