‘Our Investigation Reveals That He Is Guilty’ – EFCC Indicts Naira Marley With Fresh Reports

A report from the Cybercrime Section of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has indicted Nigerian singer Azeez Oriyomi popularly known as Naira Marley.

The investigation, which was led by Whyte Dein confirmed the EFCC charges of credit card fraud against the singer.

Naira Marley was slammed with an 11-count charge bordering on alleged credit card fraud contrary to Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act and the Cyber Crimes Act.

The singer reportedly committed the offence between November 26 and December 11, 2018, and May 10, 2018. He was arraigned on May 20, 2019, but was granted bail.

At the trial on Thursday, Dein told Justice Nicholas Oweibo that they discovered conversations on the defendant’s iPhone with one Raze who asked for credit card details.

He said: “One of our findings from the forensic report shows the exchange of chat messages with several persons when the defendant sent credit card details, including card numbers and expiration dates. Visa card details were one of those sent by the defendant to a certain person known on his contact list as Raze. This message sent Visa Card details to Raze, after which Raze replied that the card was not valid.”

“We were able to establish through investigation the previous messages he sent with a wrong card that was indeed not valid. We then repeated the same process a second time which was now valid.

“The defendant used malicious tools to disguise the identity and location of the user of the laptop when connected to the internet along with the presence of the Top Browser which acted as a single gateway to the dark net. This gave us a reasonable ground to suspect that the defendant had been engaging in fraudulent card activities. And this was established through a reply to our request for Visa Western Union Card.

“The types of sites most commonly associated with the dark web are marketplaces where illicit goods such as narcotics, firearms, and stolen credit card numbers are bought and sold. The darkest corners are used to hire hitmen, engage in human trafficking, and exchange child pornography.”

Dein stated that the investigations revealed that the defendant was indeed guilty of the crimes he was charged with.

However, counsel to the respondent, Olalekan Ojo objected to the prosecution’s claim, stating that only the court could give such a verdict

The case was adjourned till July 13 for ruling on the points raised, and July 15 for the continuation of the trial.