Nigerian law enforcement recently arrested a politician who is accused of laundering digital funds that were stolen from Patricia Technologies in May. CEO Hanu Fejiro praised the politician’s arrest and said the recovered funds will “go a long way to soothe Patricia users.”
The Politician’s Involvement in a Complex Crime
The Nigerian police have arrested a politician who is accused of seeking to launder digital assets that were stolen from the crypto exchange platform Patricia Technologies earlier this year. According to the police, Wilfred Bonse had fraudulently transferred more than $60,000 from the $750,000 in stolen funds to his bank account.
As reported by Bitcoin.com News in May, Patricia lost digital assets worth more than $2 million after hackers breached its platform. The theft left the crypto platform with a financial hole which forced Patricia to seek funds to refund affected users.
In his remarks after announcing the politician’s arrest, Prince Olumuyiwa Adejobi, the spokesperson for the Nigerian police, said:
Having registered his involvement in the complex crime. Wilfred Bonse, conspired in laundering the sum of Fifty Million Naira (N50,000,000) originating from the fraudulent diversion of Six Hundred and Seven Million Naira (N607,000,000) from Patricia Technology company’s account to his bank account through a cryptocurrency wallet.
The spokesperson, however, said investigations are still ongoing and vowed to bring those behind the hacking to justice.
IMPORTANT UPDATE Thank you to the men and women of the NPF-NCCC.
More updates to follow soon. #patriciatechnologies https://t.co/qSHGjZ3EsQ
— Patricia (@PatriciaSwitch) November 24, 2023
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Patricia praised Nigerian law enforcement agencies behind Bonse’s arrest. The CEO Hanu Fejiro said the recovered funds will “go a long way to soothe Patricia users.”
Meanwhile, the confirmation of Bonse’s arrest as well as the recovery of part of the funds came just a few days after Patricia said it had commenced refunding the first batch of users.
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