Court Jails Man Four Years for Money Laundering, Convicts Four BDC Operators
Justice Akintayo Aluko of the Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos, has sentenced Sunmonu Olasunkanmi Thaoban to four years in prison after finding him guilty of money laundering.
Sunmonu was arraigned by the Lagos Zonal Directorate 1 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a two-count charge.
According to the EFCC, he acted as a middleman in 2023 and concealed the source of ₦16 million suspected to be proceeds of crime by using the money to purchase a black 2018 Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon.
The commission said his actions violated the provisions of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
The defendant pleaded guilty to both charges.
Following his plea, EFCC prosecutor H.U. Kofarnaisa presented the facts of the case and asked the court to convict and sentence him.
Justice Aluko found him guilty and sentenced him to four years’ imprisonment, with the option of paying a ₦1.8 million fine instead.
The court also ordered that the G-Wagon and a mobile phone belonging to the convict be forfeited to the Federal Government.
In a separate ruling, the judge also convicted four Bureau de Change (BDC) operators for carrying out illegal foreign exchange transactions.
The four convicted operators are Umar Muhammad Lamido, Yusuf Musa Yusuf, Abdulmuhimin Mahmud, and Muhammed Musa.
They were prosecuted by the EFCC on separate one-count charges and all pleaded guilty.
After reviewing the cases, Justice Aluko sentenced each of them to 12 months in prison, with the option of paying a ₦100,000 fine.
The EFCC said the convictions demonstrate its continued commitment to enforcing financial laws and tackling economic and financial crimes across the country.
