The news
- The Nigerian Police has arrested Wilfred Bonse in connection with a hack on Patricia.
- According to information from Patricia, the ₦607 million ($750,000) is part of the total amount the crypto exchange lost to the hack announced in May.
- The company”s CEO said the hackers used politicians to launder stolen funds from Patricia.
Wilfred Bonse was a Governorship aspirant in the 2023 gubernatorial elections in Cross River State. However, he withdrew from the race and asked his political party, PDP, to refund the ₦21 ($29,956) million he used to purchase the gubernatorial form.
Bonse was arrested in connection with Patricia’s security breach announced in May this year. According to the police PRO, Muyiwa Adejobi, the arrest was made by the Nigeria Police Cybercrime Centre.
He said, “The Centre has made progress in the investigation of the complex financial fraud reported by Patricia Technologies Limited. The case involves criminal conspiracy, unauthorised modification of computer systems, network, data, and the unlawful diversion of funds.”
The PRO also noted that 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.”
Patricia CEO Hanu Fejiro said, “this is not all the monies lost, but recovery from this would go a long way to soothe Patricia users.”
This news is coming four days after the company promised to begin paying the first batch of back customers. While several customers reported not getting any payment, the company insists it started payouts on November 20.
Recall that in May when Patricia announced its hack, it revealed that an individual among the syndicated group perpetrated the breach had been identified with the help of law enforcement.
A source also disclosed to Techpoint Africa that the individual identified within the group was traced through compromised naira assets. The source said most of the naira assets were traced to the individual.
While an arrest has been made, it will still take a while before stolen funds will be recovered.
This is a developing story.
