A Federal High Court in Lagos has convicted and sentenced seven Chinese nationals to one year imprisonment each for their involvement in cyberterrorism and internet fraud linked to a large-scale Ponzi scheme uncovered in December 2024.

The convicts ? Peng Li Huan, Zhang Jin Rong, He Kun, Rachelle Cabalona, Caselyn Pionela, Guo Long Long, and Zhang Hua Zhai ? were apprehended by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) during a major raid on a building along Oyin Jolayemi Street, Victoria Island, Lagos, where over 700 suspects were arrested.

They were separately arraigned before Justices Ayokunle Faji, Chukwujekwu Aneke, and Yellim Bogoro of the Federal High Court.

According to the EFCC?s Lagos Zonal Directorate 1, the defendants were charged with one-count offences bordering on cyberterrorism and internet fraud. During court proceedings, prosecution counsel Bilkisu Buhari-Bala, Chineye Okezie, and Banjo Temitope informed the courts that the convicts had entered into plea bargain agreements, which were duly filed on June 20, 2025.

Upon arraignment, all seven defendants pleaded guilty and confirmed they voluntarily consented to the plea deals. Consequently, the courts sentenced each of them to one year imprisonment with an option of a ?1,000,000 (One Million Naira) fine.

In addition, the courts ordered that the Comptroller-General of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) should ensure their deportation to their respective countries within seven days of completing their prison terms.

The amended one-count charge read in court stated that the convicts, in December 2024, ?willfully accessed computer systems organized to destabilize and destroy the fundamental economic and social structure of Nigeria by recruiting Nigerian youths to commit identity theft and impersonate foreign nationals for financial gain.?

Their offences contravene Section 18 of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act, 2015 (as amended in 2024), and Section 2(3)(d) of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022. (Vanguard)

Update news