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An Accra Circuit Court 2 has remanded seven Nigerians alleged to be involved in cybercrimes.
The seven are expected back in court in a fortnight.
The seven were arrested on 26th September, 2022, when the Economic and Organised Crime Office(EOCO) conducted an intelligence led swoop at a house at Manhean, Obeyeyie in the Greater Accra Region.
28 Nigerians, suspected to be engaged in Prohibited Cyber Activities were arrested and taken into custody.
After an initial screening by officers of EOCO, 21 of the persons were determined to be victims of Human Trafficking from Nigeria to Ghana.
The seven who are said to be kingpins ⁰have since been remanded into lawful custody whilst investigation are on-going.
Background
It would recalled that this website on Sunday reported that The Economic Organised Crime Office’s (EOCO), Anti-Human Trafficking Unit (AHTU) arrested seven suspected cyber fraudsters in a suburb of Manhea in the Greater Accra Region.
MyNewsGh.com gathered the suspects all Nigerians had set up a sophisticated system where they with Ghana’s Internet Protocol address system and engaging in cyber fraud.
According to sources available to this website, the suspects all males, succeeded in kidnapping about 21 colleague Nigerians into the country and camped them at a house in Ashaiman where these cyber-related activities were ongoing before the arrest.
The suspects whose identities had been withheld, were in custody until they were arraigned before court on Monday, October 3, 2022.
Meanwhile, rescued victims are currently being held at an undisclosed location according to a source at the Nigerian High Commission in Ghana with efforts underway to repatriate them.
It has however been confirmed that the main architect is in Nigeria and receives the proceeds of cyber activities after which he pays some stipends to his employees aged between 18-35.
Security agencies have since seized over 20 laptops used in the operations.
Between 2016 and 2018, the country lost over US$200 million to recorded cybercrime cases. According to the Ghana Police Service, more than half of these reported cases were linked to fraud. Police also recorded an increase in cyber crimes in the country from 116 in 2016 to 412 in 2017 and further to 558 in 2018.
The major forms of cybercrime were hacking, credit card fraud, software piracy and cyber identity theft.
