REGULATION | Nigerian Politician Arrested in Connection with Patricia Exchange Security Breach

The Nigeria Police Force says it has arrested politician, Wilfred Bonse, for allegedly engaging in laundering funds stolen from Patricia Technologies.

According to a statement read by Olumuyiwa Adejobi, Nigeria Police Force’s public relations officer, law enforcement officers have made significant strides in the investigation of the complex financial fraud case reported by Patricia Technologies Limited.

“The case involves criminal conspiracy, unauthorized modification of computer systems, network data, and the unlawful diversion of funds amounting to over Two Hundred Million Naira ($250,156) as contained in a petition to the Inspector General of Police,” the police said in a statement published on X.

“Having registered his involvement in the complex crime, Wilfred Bonse conspired in laundering the sum of Fifty Million Naira ($62,539) originating from the fraudulent diversion of Six Hundred and Seven Million Naira ($838,023) from Patricia Technology company’s account to his bank account through a cryptocurrency wallet.”

Patricia has been under fire from users in Nigeria since it suspended withdrawals from its crypto platform in May 2023 when it discovered a security breach that compromised its Bitcoin and Naira assets.

At the time, the company confirmed that it had identified an individual involved in the breach with the assistance of law enforcement pledging to collaborate with law enforcement agencies and other partners to recover the affected assets.

Nonetheless, the company continued to face a lot of backlash from the public despite a plan to have users receive a newly created Patricia token in place for their missing Bitcoin.

Patricia CEO, Fejiro Hanu, insists that the company’s plan to refund users of their funds is underway noting that the process began on November 20 2023 and would continue until all affected users are paid back.

The funds intercepted by police are just a fraction of all funds lost but recovery from this would go a long way to sooth Patricia users, the CEO added.

At the same time, while the investigation is ongoing, the Nigeria Police Force wishes to assure the public that all individuals involved in this criminal conspiracy will be brought to justice.