- The court found Official Gredo Limited guilty of illegally conducting transactions in stablecoin USDT and the Nigerian naira without obtaining a valid banking license from Nigerian authorities
- Justice Inyang Ekwo also ordered the forfeiture of N140 million held in Official Gredo’s bank account EFCC recovery account
- The company's director, Nnamdi Okereke, entered a guilty plea and was sentenced
A federal high court in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, has convicted an indigenous crypto firm, Official Gredo Limited, for unlicensed USDT-Naira trading.
The court found Official Gredo Limited guilty of illegally conducting transactions in stablecoin USDT and the Nigerian naira without obtaining a valid banking license from Nigerian authorities.
The trial judge, Justice Inyang Ekwo, also ordered the forfeiture of N140 million held in Official Gredo’s bank account to the federal government of Nigeria via the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s (EFCC) recovery account. The order was part of a plea bargain the firm reached with the prosecuting agency, the EFCC.
When the amended money laundering charge suit no. FHC/ABJ/CR/308/2024 was read to the company's director, Nnamdi Okereke, he entered a guilty plea and was sentenced.
According to Section 10(1)(b) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011, the company was charged with neglecting to notify the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) in writing of a single transfer of N76,462,500.00 made from Renderstack Technologies Ltd into the Providus Bank Ltd account No. 5400608751 run by Official Gredo.
The crypto firm and EFCC had earlier reached a plea bargain before the hearing on October 23. So after Okereke pleaded guilty to the one-count charge of money laundering, the EFCC counsel, Martha Babatunde, Esq., and the firm’s counsel, I.O. Offodili, prayed the court to recognise the plea agreement, which stated that Okereke acknowledged committing the crime and returned N140,000,000 to the EFCC. The returned sum was a part of the sum related to the contested transaction.
Justice Ekwo then sentenced the Okereke in line with the plea agreement and fined the company N1 million, which it was ordered to pay to the Federal Government of Nigeria.
“The defendant shall forfeit the sum of N140,000,000 recovered by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in the course of the investigation to the Federal Government of Nigeria,” Justice Ekwo said.
“The sum of N140,000,000 being the amount restituted by the Defendant shall be deducted from the account of CZMUNCH FABRICATORS AND WIRING VENTURES—CHIMERA LOGISTICS AND HAULAGE SERVICES, with account number 5435830566 domiciled in Moniepoint Microfinance Bank, which will be transferred to the EFCC Recovery Account.”
5 Exchanges to trade $X Empire token
Meanwhile, TheRadar earlier reported that while millions of crypto enthusiasts and users worldwide are excited about the coming listing of $X, many do not know the exchanges and where they can trade the coin. Below are the exchanges announced by the X Empire developers where the $X coin will start listed and trading on October 24.
1. Bybit
Bybit is one of the top-tier and most popular crypto exchanges in the world. The developers of X Empire have said the $X coin will be listed on Bybit for spot trading on October 24.
