The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned a suspected cryptocurrency fraudster, Usie Otukpa Osang, before Obiora Egwuatu, Justice of the Federal High Court in Abuja, over an alleged investment scam involving AUD$8.43 million and US$3.64 million, accusing him of deceiving an Australian investor through a fake online cryptocurrency trading platform that promised unrealistic returns.
The Commission alleged that Osang, who was also identified by the aliases Oscar Tyler and Ford Thompson, fraudulently obtained AUD$8.43 million and US$3.64 million from an Australian investor through a fake cryptocurrency investment platform.
According to the EFCC, the alleged offences occurred between May 2021 and May 2022 when Osang and others still at large reportedly convinced Brian Jacques Creigh, an Australian citizen and Chief Executive Officer of investment firm Panacea Capital, to invest in what they falsely presented as Liquid Assets Group, a licensed online cryptocurrency trading and investment platform promising substantial returns.
The anti-graft agency further alleged that the defendant obtained 19.806 Bitcoin, valued at about US$1.08 million at the time, through a Binance wallet as part of the fraudulent scheme.
