The Federal High Court in Lagos has convicted and sentenced four Bureau de Change (BDC) operators to 12 months’ imprisonment each for engaging in illegal foreign exchange transactions, while also jailing another man for money laundering and ordering the forfeiture of his assets to the Federal Government.

Justice Akintayo Aluko delivered the judgments on Thursday at the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, following separate prosecutions by the Lagos Zonal Directorate 1 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

The four convicted BDC operators—Umar Muhammad Lamido, Yusuf Musa Yusuf, Abdulmuhimin Mahmud and Muhammed Musa—were arraigned on separate one-count charges bordering on unlawful foreign exchange transactions outside the official market.

According to the EFCC, the defendants violated Section 11(1)(a) of the National Economic Intelligence Committee Establishment Act, 1994, by conducting foreign exchange transactions through unauthorised channels.

All four defendants pleaded guilty to their respective charges.

Following their guilty pleas, prosecution counsel, H. U. Kofarnaisa, reviewed the facts of the cases and urged the court to convict and sentence them in accordance with the law.

Justice Aluko subsequently convicted the defendants and sentenced each of them to 12 months’ imprisonment, with an option of a ₦100,000 fine.

In a related case, the court convicted Sunmonu Olasunkanmi Thaoban for money laundering after he pleaded guilty to a two-count charge.

The EFCC accused Sunmonu of disguising the origin of ₦16 million in illicit proceeds by using the funds to acquire a 2018 black G-Wagon Jeep, an act that contravened the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.

After reviewing the evidence, the prosecution urged the court to convict the defendant based on his guilty plea.

Justice Aluko sentenced Sunmonu to four years’ imprisonment, with an option of a ₦1.8 million fine.

The court also ordered the forfeiture of the convict’s 2018 black G-Wagon Jeep and his mobile device to the Federal Government as proceeds of unlawful activity.