Two Chinese nationals arraigned for conspiring to defraud FG through illegal mining
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The EFCC argued that the offenses contravened Sections 8(a) and 8(b) of the Miscellaneous Offences Act of 1983. Following the defendants' non-guilty plea, the prosecution requested that they be remanded in custody and asked for a trial date.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has brought charges against two Chinese nationals, Zhang Hong Lin and Gao Pei Hai, for alleged illegal mining and possession of mineral resources.
The defendants were arraigned before Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke of the Federal High Court in Lagos, where they pleaded not guilty to the five-count charge.
The EFCC’s prosecution team alleged that Lin and Hai, along with another Chinese national, Gao Pei Yu, who is currently at large, conspired to defraud the Federal Government by engaging in illegal mining and exportation of mineral resources without authorisation.
The prosecution claimed that the trio conspired to illegally export various mineral resources, including Mica products, copper-bearing and lithium-bearing minerals.
The specific minerals allegedly in the defendants’ possession included Muscovite and Leidolite (Mica Minerals), Spodumene and Petalite (Lithium-bearing minerals), and Anhydrite, Quartz, Magnesite, Bornite, and Cuprite (Copper-bearing minerals).
The EFCC argued that the offenses contravened Sections 8(a) and 8(b) of the Miscellaneous Offences Act of 1983. Following the defendants’ non-guilty plea, the prosecution requested that they be remanded in custody and asked for a trial date.
The defendants’ counsel, Jeremiah Okoro, urged the court to remand his clients in EFCC custody to facilitate an oral bail application. Justice Aneke ordered that Lin and Hai be remanded at the Ikoyi Correctional Centre and adjourned the matter until July 4, 2025, for trial.
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