The charge against Liang Quin Yong states: “That you, Liang Quin Yong, on or about the 9th of March, at the Dura Rayfield axis of Jos, Plateau State, within the jurisdiction of this Court, committed an offence to wit: you engaged in the purchase of Mineral Resources without lawful authority and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 1(8)(b) of the Miscellaneous Offences Act, 1983.”
In the case of Wang Huajie, the charge reads: “That you, Wang Huajie, on or about the 9th of March, at the Dura Rayfield axis of Jos, Plateau State, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, committed an offence to wit: you engaged in the purchase of Mineral Resources without lawful authority and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 1(8)(b) of the Miscellaneous Offences Act, 1983.”
For Zhong Jiajing, the charge reads: “That you, Zhong Jiajing, on or about the 9th of March, at the Dura Rayfield axis of Jos, Plateau State, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, committed an offence to wit: you engaged in the purchase of Mineral Resources without lawful authority and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 1(8)(b) of the Miscellaneous Offences Act, 1983.”
The charge against Long Kechong reads: “That you, Long Kechong, on or about the 9th of March, at the Dura Rayfield axis of Jos, Plateau State, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, committed an offence to wit: you engaged in the purchase of Mineral Resources without lawful authority and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 1(8)(b) of the Miscellaneous Offences Act, 1983.”
Upon the reading of the charges, all the defendants pleaded “guilty.” Consequently, EFCC counsel M.O. Arumemi and F.A.I. Asemebo urged the court to convict them accordingly.
Having been satisfied that the prosecution had proven its case beyond reasonable doubt, Justice Agishi found the four Chinese nationals guilty and sentenced each of them to five years’ imprisonment, with an option of paying a fine of N1,000,000 (One Million Naira) each for engaging in the unlawful purchase and possession of mineral resources.
The judge further ordered that the convicts be deported from Nigeria and barred from returning to the country.
Additionally, all proceeds of the crime are to be forfeited to the Federal Government of Nigeria. Liang Quin Yong is specifically to forfeit the sum of N134,874,769.01 (One Hundred and Thirty-Four Million, Eight Hundred and Seventy-Four Thousand, Seven Hundred and Sixty-Nine Naira, One Kobo), being proceeds of the unlawful mineral resource transactions.
Justice Agishi also ordered the forfeiture of all mineral resources recovered during the investigation, along with the sum of N16,300,000.00 (Sixteen Million, Three Hundred Thousand Naira) as an administrative penalty for failure to report a financial transaction within seven days to the Special Control Unit against Money Laundering (SCUML), in line with Section 11(1)(b) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
