Nigerian crossdresser Bobrisky has been convicted by a Federal High Court in Lagos after pleading guilty to charges related to the abuse of the Naira.
Bobrisky was brought before the court by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a six-count charge, four of which pertained to abusing the Naira and two to money laundering following his arrest on Wednesday.
But two of the charges on money laundering were dropped.
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The arrest came after a video surfaced showing him spraying wads of cash at the premiere of Eniola Ajao’s ‘Beasts of Two Worlds’ movie on March 24, 2024.
According to a report by the newspaper Punch Nigeria on Friday, April 5, the social media influencer told the court he was unaware that tampering with the Naira note or coin is an offence punishable by law.
Bobrisky told the court he was remorseful; adding that should he be given a second chance, he would take the opportunity to educate his followers against spraying money.
He also promised to upload a video on the subject matter and never to repeat the mistake. Justice Abimbola Awogboro convicted Bobrisky after a review of the facts of the case.
Following Bobrisky’s arrest on Wednesday, the EFCC revealed that aside from the March 24 incident, their investigation found that Bobrisky had tampered with the naira on several occasions in 2023.
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The influencer was also charged with two counts of money laundering. According to the agency, the crossdresser failed to report to appropriate institutions the activities of a company he established called the Bob Express.
EFCC revealed in a statement that on different occasions millions of naira were paid into the company’s account raising suspicions.
“In count five, Bobrisky, while trading under the name and style of Bob Express between 1 September 2021 and 4 April 2024 in Lagos, failed to submit to the Special Control Unit Against Money Laundering a declaration of the activities of the said company, (Bob Express), within which period the total sum of N127.7m was paid into the company account domiciled with Ecobank.”
“In count six, Bobrisky is also accused of failing to submit a declaration of the activities of the company within the same period when another N53 million was paid into the company’s account, thereby committing an offence contrary to Section 6(1)(a), and Section 19(1) (f) of the Money Laundering (Prevention And Prohibition) Act and punishable under Section 19 (2) (b) of the same Act.”
However, in court on Friday, the money laundering charges were struck out by Justice Abimbola Awogboro.
This was after the EFCC’s prosecution counsel, Suleiman Suleiman, prayed to the court to strike out counts five and six (money laundering charges) and arraign him on counts one to four.
Meanwhile, the court has yet to announce the sentence.
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