Politician Arrested For Stealing From Crypto Exchange

The National Cybercrime Center of the Nigerian Police announced that they have identified politician Wilfred Bonse as one of the collaborators in a recent theft from Patricia Technologies. The police have arrested Bonse for conspiring to launder around 50 million naira from 607 million naira fraudulently diverted to his bank account via a cryptocurrency wallet. The list of criminal accusations includes illicit diversion of funds and unauthorized modification of network data.

Allegedly, Bonse has admitted to being involved in this crime, revealing that his bank account was used to facilitate the laundering $62,368 from the stolen $757,151.16. The other accomplices in the theft are on the run, but the police have stated they have specific suspects and are working on retrieving the stolen funds. Bonse was a candidate in the recent election for the gubernatorial position in Cross River State but failed to mobilize the support of local voters. On his Twitter account, Bonse describes himself as a financial consultant, philanthropist, and goodwill ambassador.

The hacking breach occurred in May 2023 and represented a serious blow to crypto exchange Patricia Technologies Limited, from which the company has still not recovered. The security breach resulted in the theft of digital assets valued at $2 million, creating a financial hole for the crypto platform.