The news:
- An investigative report seen by Techpoint Africa shows the Nigerian Police Force has identified seven individuals in connection to a hack on Patricia.
- The total amount of money stolen from the platform was estimated to be ₦142.8million ($155,734).
- This comes after Nigerian Wilfred Bonse was identified as a suspect in a ₦607 Patricia hack million hack.
According to the investigation report, six of seven suspects have been brought in for questioning while one suspect who is believed to have masterminded the entire operation is still at large.
The operation reportedly happened between October 2021 and February 2022. The statement made by the complainant, a Patricia employee, alleged that the operation led to a ₦142.8 million theft in the company.
The statement also revealed that the company was able to discover the hack after a company audit. The audit uncovered the accounts where the money was sent.
The police tracked the accounts and got statements from six suspects who received deposits from the stolen funds.
The suspects were one Uber driver, two Bureau De Change traders, a senior special assistant to a Nigerian governor, a driver, and a musician.
The statements from these individuals indicate they were used by one *Olaitan to receive funds stolen from Patricia. Olaitan allegedly collected their account numbers under false pretences to distribute the stolen funds. Olaitan is still at large, while other suspects have been released on administrative bail.
This development comes after police arrested Nigerian politician Wilfred Bonse in connection to a ₦607 million ($750,000) hack on Patricia.
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According to the police, Bonse “registered his involvement” in laundering ₦50 million ($61,800)” originating from the fraudulent diversion of ₦607 million from Patricia’s account to his bank account through a cryptocurrency wallet.”
According to Patricia’s Instagram page, the trial for the Wilfred Bonse case has been rescheduled for June 2024 following a court recess.
Patricia announced back in May 2023 that it was a victim of a hack that led to the loss of bitcoin and naira assets. Withdrawals were paused on the platform until November when it decided to start its first batch of repayments.
While it is unclear whether the first batch has been completed the customers that spoke to Techpoint Africa said they have not been paid and are only aware of a few customers that have gotten paid.
Techpoint Africa reached out to Patricia for comments but has not gotten a response from the company.
* Not real name
[Update]: The first version of this article stated that Glover, a subsidiary of Patricia, was the hacked entity, that was an error. The hack was on Patricia, not Glover.
