Respect Naira: Court Sends Chinese to Jail For Two Years For Shredding Naira Notes to Pieces Worth N3,000
- A Chinese man who mutilated Nigerian currency has been sent to jail to serve as deterrent to other foreign nationals and Nigerians
- Li Lei Lei was arrested on May 17, 2022, while trying to board a flight to Kenya at the Muritala Muhammed airport
- The Central Bank of Nigeria laws frown on the abuse of Naira and have a minimum penalty of six months imprisonment or N50,000 fine
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The Lagos Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Tuesday, May 31, 2022, secured the conviction and sentencing of one Li Lei Lei, a Chinese national, to 24 months imprisonment for mutilating the Nigerian currency.
Justice I. Nicholas Oweibo of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos passed the judgement, Vanugard reports.
The convict was arraigned on a four-count charge bordering on tampering of the Nigerian note, an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 21(1) of the Central Bank of Nigeria Establishment) Act.
Source: Facebook
Court Judgement
One of the count reads:
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“That you, Li Lei Lei, on or about the 17th day of May, 2022, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, tampered with One Thousand Naira (N1,000) Note, with serial number 947882 issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 21(1) of the Central Bank of Nigeria Establishment) Act, Cap C4, Vol.1, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2010.”
Another count reads:
“That you, Li Lei Lei, on or about the 17th day of May, 2022 at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, tampered with One Thousand Naira (N1,000) note, with serial number 114804 issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria and, thereby, committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 21(1) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (Establishment) Act, Cap C4, Vol.1, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2010.”
What transpired in Court
Li Lei Lei pleaded “guilty” to the offence.
In view of his guilty plea, the prosecution counsel, Ayanfe Ogunshina, moved to review the facts of the case.
Ogunshina narrated that the convict was arrested on May 17, 2022, while trying to board a flight to Kenya.
He also told the Court that, while the Immigration officers were searching for drugs and incriminating items in the convict’s luggage, he angrily tore to pieces the Naira notes to the tune of Three Thousand, Two Hundred Naira (N3, 200).
He further told the Court that the defendant was, thereafter, arrested by officers of the Department of State Security (DSS) and handed over to the EFCC for investigation and prosecution.
The prosecution tendered the voluntary statements of the convict, which was written in Mandarin and translated into English by a known interpreter to the defendant.
The prosecution also tendered the handover note from the DSS to the EFCC and the shredded Naira notes.
Ogunshina, upon presenting his case, urged the court to convict him as charged and sentence him accordingly.
Justice Oweibo found the defendant guilty and sentenced him to six months imprisonment on each count, with an option of a fine in the sum of Two Hundred Thousand Naira (N200, 000.00).
CBN Reveals 488,000 eNaira wallets Downloaded, 78,000 merchants registered globally
In another report, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has revealed in the last 24 days 488,000, consumer wallets and about 78,000 merchant wallets have been registered with downloads coming from over 160 countries.
CBN also revealed that 17,000 transactions amounting to over N62 million with the average transaction being about N3,800 each were recorded as well.
The apex bank stated this at a Masterclass with the theme: Central Bank of Nigeria Interventions as Fulcrum for Economic Diversification’, an event organised by the Centre for Financial Journalism in Lagos.
Source: Legit.ng
