11 Chinese Arrested for Cyber Plot: How EFCC Thwarted a Threat to Nigeria

Eleven Chinese nationals were arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Tuesday on charges of identity theft, cyber fraud, and attempts to undermine Nigeria's constitutional order.

Before the Federal High Court in Lagos, the accused were arraigned. They entered a not guilty plea to the accusations.

This comes just one day after forty-two Chinese and Filipinos were charged with similar offenses by the anti-graft agency in the same Federal High Court in Lagos.

The EFCC claims that the foreign people were taken into custody on December 19, 2024, in Lagos during an operation known as the "Eagle Flush Operation."

Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke ordered their remand at the Ikoyi Correctional Center in Lagos after they entered a not-guilty plea.

Wang Xiong Wei (also known as Xiao Bai), Chen Dong Dong (also known as Cun Zhao), Chen Yuan (also known as Xiao Doa), Wu Yuan An (also known as Zeng Niu), Wang Gong Lin (also known as Wang Jing Lin), and Weng Mao Rong (also known as A Xiang) are the defendants.

They were charged separately with identity theft, possession of false documents, cybercrimes, and cyberterrorism.

The defendants allegedly enlisted young Nigerians in identity theft and other cyberfraud operations, according to the EFCC.

Five other Chinese citizens were also charged before the court: Huang Hai Tao, Zhang Jian Feng, Wu A Wang, Xiao Xin, and Liu Ke Fan (also known as Lina or Lui Chen).

Liu Ke Fan was charged by the EFCC with posing as Lina, a 28-year-old American who lived in Germany, as part of a bitcoin fraud and romance scheme.

Liu Ke Fan, according to the prosecution, fraudulently impersonated a U.S. citizen using a phony profile on his company's Maya desktop computer in December 2024 "with intent to gain advantage for himself and members of his criminal syndicate group."

In order to deceive investigators and hide his involvement in a criminal syndicate that specializes in romance scams, cryptocurrency fraud, and cyberterrorism, the defendant "willfully provided false information during an investigation, falsely presenting himself as Liu Chen," the EFCC further informed the court.

The accused are part of a network of 792 people involved in romance scams and bitcoin investment fraud, according to the anti-graft bureau.

On December 19, 2024, the defendants were taken into custody in Lagos as part of an unexpected EFCC operation known as the "Eagle Flush Operation."


On or around December 18, 2024, the accused "willfully accessed computer systems with intent to destabilize Nigeria's constitutional structure by procuring and employing Nigerian youths for identity theft, falsely representing them as foreign nationals to gain financial advantage," according to EFCC prosecutors M.K. Bashir and R.A. Abdulrasheed, who testified in court.

They were also charged by the commission with "willfully giving EFCC officers false information during investigations into their alleged cyber fraud activities."

According to the EFCC, their acts are in violation of Section 39(2) of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (Establishment) Act, 2004 as well as Sections 18 and 27 of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc.) Act, 2015 (as amended in 2024).

The offenders entered a not guilty plea after hearing the allegations.

Justice Aneke ordered their remand at the Ikoyi Correctional Center pending trial after they made their pleas.

The case has been postponed by the court until February 21 and March 7, 2025.