The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on
Tuesday, March 25, 2025, arraigned four Chinese and one Nigerian before Justice
Aliyu Halilu of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, High Court in Abuja for
alleged hotel review scam.
They were arraigned on a three -count charge bordering
on conspiracy, cheating and impersonation.
Count one reads: “That you, LIU ZHIWEI, CHEN YE QUI,
ZHANG XIAO WEN, LAN SHUN BIN and NWAKAMA CHINYERE OGBONNA (a.k.a Haron
Koshear), sometime in December, 2024 at Abuja, within the jurisdiction of this
Honourable Court did agree among yourself to do illegal act to;
cheating when you used the fictitious picture of Haron Koshear and sent chats
to unsuspecting members of the public via Telegram Account to promote the
services or ratings of Hotels in London as five star Hotels in return for payment
of $5 (Five United States Dollars), when you knew that the said hotels are not
five-star hotels and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 96 (1)
(a) of the Penal Code, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (Abuja), 1990 and
punishable under Section 97 (1)(2) of the same Act.”
Count two reads: “That you, NWAKAMA CHINYERE OGBONNA
(a.k.a Haron Koshear) sometime in December, 2024 at Abuja within the
jurisdiction of this Honourable Court with intent to defraud, falsely
represented yourself as Haron Koshear, a Customer Service Representative with
Venus Spark Impact Media, Na`aka Hub Plaza Gudu, Abuja, Federal Capital
Territory and in that assumed character aided the management of Venus Spark
Impact Media, Na`aka Hub Plaza, Gudu, Abuja, Federal Capital Territory to
promote the services of rating of Nox Edgware Road as five-star hotel in return
for payment of $5 (Five United States Dollars), when you knew that the said
hotel is not five- star hotel and thereby committed an offence contrary to
Section 321 of the Penal Code, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (Abuja) 1990
and punishable under section 324 of the same Act.
The defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges when
they were read to them.
Prosecution counsel, Maryam Aminu Ahmed, in view of
their pleas, prayed the court to fix a date for commencement of trial and
remand the defendants in a Correctional Centre.
However, defense counsel, Yahaya Dangana,
SAN, told the court of the application for bail of his clients.
After listening to both counsels, Justice Halilu
adjourned the matter till March 27, 2025, for hearing of bail applications and
ordered that Liu Zhiwei, Chen ye qui, Zhang Xiao Wen, Lan Shun Bin be remanded
in Kuje Correctional Center while Nwakama Chinyere Ogbonna be remanded in
Suleja Correctional Center.
The suspects were among the 105 suspects arrested by
the operatives of the EFCC on January 9, 2025, in a business apartment in the
Gudu axis of Abuja, for their alleged involvement in hotel review job
scam targeting victims and hotels in Europe and other parts of the world.
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