Court Jails Yahoo Boys’ Middleman, 4 Men for Money Laundering, Illegal Forex Trading -By Paul Sanusi

Summonu Thaoban Olasunkanmi, a yahoo boys’ middleman, popularly called Picker, in internet fraud parlance, has been convicted and sentenced to four years imprisonment for money laundering, by a a Federal High Court, Lagos.

Sunmonu was given the jail-term by Justice Akintayo Aluko on Thursday, after pleaded guilty to a three count-charge of being in possession of illicit funds and Money laundering, by the operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Specifically, charges against Sunmonu read: “That you, Sunmonu Thaoban Olasunkanmi, sometime in 2026, in Lagos and within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court whilst acting as a middleman, indirectly disguised the origin of the sum of $20,000,000 (twenty thousand United States dollars) in your crypto currency wallet WAAVR255KALTSMCW6PPAFDR107M8VKGS)7SZ which forms part of the proceeds of your unlawful activity, and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 18(2)(a) and punishable under section 18 (3) of the of Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act,2022. 

“That you, Sunmonu Thaoban Olasunkanmi, sometime in 2023, in Lagos and within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court whilst acting as a middleman indirectly disguised the origin of the sum of N16,000,000 (sixteen Million Naira) illicit gain accrued from your unlawful act, to a plack color G-Wangle Jeep, 2018 model Chassis number 4C4HJWEGJL893461 which vehicle forms part of the proceeds of your unlawful activity, and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 18(2)(a) and punishable under section 18 (3) of the of Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act,2022.

“That you, Sunmonu Thaoban Olasunkanmi, sometime in 2026, in Lagos and within the Jurisdiction of this Honourable Court whilst acting as a middleman and with intent to defraud had in your possession documents containing false pretense, which document you knew to be false and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 6 and punishable under 1(3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other fraud related Offences Act, 2006.”

Upon admitting the crimes and pleaded guilty to the charges, the prosecutor, H. U. Kofarnaisa, reviewed the facts of the case and urged the court to convict and sentence him accordingly.

But the convict through his lawyer prayed the court for lenience and promised not to go back to crime.

Based on his plea for mercy and other militating factors considered by Justice Aluko, the convict was  sentenced him to four years’ imprisonment, but ordered to pay the sum of ₦1.8 million as fine option.

In addition, the judge also ordered the forfeiture of the convict’s black G-Wagon Jeep and mobile device, as well as N9 million recovered from his account to the Federal Government of Nigeria.

In a related development, Justice Aluko also convicted and sentenced four Bureau de Change (BDC) operators to 12 months imprisonment each, for engaging in illegal foreign exchange transactions.

The convicts, Umar Muhammad Lamido, Yusuf Musa Yusuf, Abdulmuhimin Mahmud, and Muhammed Musa, were prosecuted by the Lagos Zonal Directorate 1 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ikoyi, on separate one-count charges bordering on illegal foreign exchange operations.

One of the charges against Abdulmuhimin Mahmud reads: “that you, ABDULMUMIN MAHMUD, on the 23rd of July, 2026, in Lagos within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, engaged in a foreign exchange transaction other than through the official foreign exchange market and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 11(1)(a) of the National Economic Intelligence Committee Establishment (Etc.) Act, 1994 and punishable under Section 11(2) of the same Act.”

The defendants pleaded guilty to their respective charges.

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

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