Amb. Wilfred Bonse, a Nigerian politician, has been apprehended by Nigerian authorities on charges of theft and money laundering. This arrest is linked to a security breach that affected the cryptocurrency trading company Patricia Technologies Ltd.
According to ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, a spokesperson for the Nigerian Police Force (NPF), the arrest came after the force looked into the hack at Patricia. Adejobi mentioned that Bonse is believed to have played a role in laundering 50 million naira ($62,368) from the 607 million naira ($757,151) fraudulently diverted from the platform to his account using a crypto wallet.
Prior to his arrest, Bonse had vied for a gubernatorial seat in the Southern part of Nigeria. Investigations are ongoing, and there are other suspects still evading capture, as mentioned by the PRO, who affirmed that all individuals implicated in the criminal conspiracy case will be apprehended and face consequences. In response to the arrest, Hanu Fejiro Abgodje, the CEO of Patricia, expressed satisfaction, stating that this development vindicates the crypto platform. The platform had faced criticism in the aftermath of the hacking incident.
“This is a big relief.
We have finally been vindicated as not a few disbelieved us that our platform was hacked in the first place.
But thanks to the diligence of the Nigerian Police and the unwavering commitment of my colleagues, we are delighted that our customers now have more reason to continue to trust us.
The dark days are over”Patricia CEO, Hanu Fejiro Agbodje
In May, Patricia experienced a security breach that led to the loss of customer deposits.
In a recent blog post, the platform declared its commitment to proceed with the repayment plan initiated on November 20, even after DLM Trust Company terminated its partnership agreement with the crypto trading entity.