The Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ola Olukoyede, has disclosed that the Commission, in a landmark raid, arrested 792 suspects for their alleged involvement in cryptocurrency investment fraud and romance scam.

The suspects were apprehended on Tuesday, December 10, 2024, in a surprise operation at their hideout, an imposing seven-storey edifice known as Big Leaf Building, on No.7, Oyin Jolayemi Street, Victoria Island, Lagos, following verifiable intelligence received by the Commission .

Speaking during a media briefing on Monday, December 16, 2024, at the Lagos Zonal Directorate of the Commission, Olukoyede stated that 148 Chinese, 40 Filipinos, two Kharzartans, one Pakistani, one Indonesian were arrested during the operation.

The EFCC’s boss, who spoke though the Director, Public Affairs, EFCC, Commander of the EFCC, CE Wilson Uwujaren, further stated that the foreign nationals used the facility, which could be mistaken for a corporate headquarters of a financial establishment, to train their Nigerian accomplices on how to initiate romance and investment scams and also used the identities of their Nigerian accomplices to perpetrate their criminal activities.

According to him, “All the floors are equipped with high-end desktop computers. On the 5th floor alone, investigators recovered 500 SIM cards of local telcos that were bought for criminal purposes.

“Their Nigerian accomplices were recruited by the foreign kingpins to prospect for victims online through phishing, targeting mostly Americans, Canadians, Mexicans, and several others from European countries.