By Seun Adams
A First Prosecution Witness, PW1, in the trial of one Xiao Hong Will, a Chinese, over an alleged cyber terrorism and internet fraud, on Friday, February 7, 2025, told Justice D.I. Dipeolu of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos how he was instructed by his employers to present himself as a female to gain clients’ trust.
The witness, Mr. Rowland Turaki, a Nigerian cyber-security student, said he was one of the employees of the Chinese standing trial for alleged cyber terrorism and internet fraud.
Mr. Hong Will, EFCC claimed is a member of the syndicate of 792 alleged cryptocurrency investment and romance fraud suspects arrested on December 19, 2024 in Lagos during a surprise operation tagged “Eagle Flush Operation” by operatives of the EFCC.
He was subsequently arraigned alongside Genting International Company Limited on January 31, 2025 on a three-count charge bordering on an alleged case of cybercrimes, cyber-terrorism, possession of documents containing false pretence and identity theft, among others.
One of the counts reads: “XIAO HONG WILL and GENTING INTERNATIONAL CO.
LIMITED, on or about the 18th of December 2024 in Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, willfully caused to be accessed, computer systems organised to seriously destabilise the constitutional structure of Nigeria (which prohibits and prevents cyber and related crimes) when you procured/employed Nigerian youths for identity theft and to hold themselves out as persons of foreign nationality, with the intent to gain financial advantage for yourselves and you thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 18 and 27 of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc) Act, 2015 (As Amended, 2024).”
He pleaded “not guilty” to the charges when they were read to him.
At Friday’s proceedings, prosecution counsel, Bilkisu Buhari, informed the court that the prosecution had its witnesses in court and was ready to proceed with trial.
The Head, Media and Publicity, Mr. Dele Oyewale, of EFCC, in a statement, on Saturday, said, Counsel to the defendant, however, B.A. Omateno told the court that the case was quite tedious and that she might not be able to proceed with the cross-examination.
In his ruling, Justice Dipeolu held that the defence counsel’s submission was not strong enough to discontinue the proceedings.
Consequently, Turaki, led by the prosecution counsel, began his testimony, saying, “I met him at the office, where we work.
He is one of our employers. Sometime in mid- November, I was on Jiji.ng looking for a laptop for my cyber-security studies, so I saw an advert of a job opening for a Customer Service representative role at a Company and the pay was 250k. I clicked on the ad and I was directed to a page with a WhatsApp number, which I was asked to message. I messaged the number and I was added to the group.
“On the group, we were given an address and time to come in for the interview. I went to the address at 7, Oyin Jolayemi in Victoria Island, Lagos for the interview. I was tested for my typing skills and not for my computer proficiency skills. The test was to beat a 30-word mark in one minute; and if that’s done, you are hired.
“I expected follow-up questions, but there was none. I was told to resume the next day and I was informed of the rules and regulations of the company. I was also told of the salary structure as well as accommodation and transportation arrangement. I went back home and packed my stuff to resume at work the next day. “
In his further testimony, he said: “On getting to work, I was given a script and some information needed as a guideline for my role in the company. My employers told me I had to memorise all that I was given as a guideline for my new role. For the next three days, I was made to study the script, which I will use to speak to clients.
“I was given a chat template; a set of instructions containing conversation between Genting International Company Ltd. and a client. The chat was basically befriending the client and gaining the client’s trust. A roadmap of how the chat will go and what to say.
“I was to present myself as a woman to gain the client’s trust. I was told not to deviate from the template and adhere strictly to it. After three days of training, they provided me with a desktop computer.
“We were given numbers to contact. We had a time duration of five days to gain the client’s trust, using the template provided. I started chatting with multiple people mostly men from European countries. I spent about three weeks at the company. I had not gotten the company the number of clients required and I was pressured for it.
“We were given deadlines and threats of sacking without pay and there were fines. Because of this, I decided to leave the company and when I told my superiors that I wanted to resign, a memo was passed around that if you want to leave you have to give 15 days’ notice; otherwise, you will leave without getting a dime. “
He also told the court that the company provided them with a model, whose job was to provide them with pictures and videos, so that if they needed to do video calls with the clients, it would be believable.
According to him, “The name of the model assigned to me is Amity Smith. The job of the model was to gain complete trust of the client. Once this has been done, and trust gained, my employers will send a message on the telegram group and tell us to hand off and they take over from us.
“We stop chatting with the client and move on to the next. Our supervisors are Chinese. I received payment for the duration of my stay, via a bank transfer.
“My employer had armed police presence in the work and accommodation premises. Based on the pressure from my employers, I didn’t think it was wise to flee given the high level of security presence at the premises and I wanted to get paid.
“I wanted to get medication at a time, but the Chinese people told the security men not to let us go.
“When they saw that we were creating a scene, they told the security men to forcefully send us back. We were mostly youths of age 20 to 30. They threatened us and it contributed to my decision to leave. Unfortunately, the EFCC arrested us before I could do that.”
The case was adjourned till March 18, 2025 for continuation of trial.
