The Nigeria Police Power (NPF) has reported the capture of a lawmaker regarding the robbery of north of 200 million naira (roughly $246,153) from Patricia Innovations' crypto wallet.
In a new post on X (previously Twitter), the NPF said the capture of Wilfred Bonse was made following an examination directed by the NPF's Public Cybercrime Place.
As indicated by Olumuyiwa Adejobi, the power's advertising official, Bonse is blamed for teaming up with programmers to wash 50 million naira (around $61,538) from the taken assets.
The charges against him incorporate criminal trick, unapproved adjustment of PC frameworks and organization information, and the unlawful redirection of assets surpassing 200 million naira.
These charges were illustrated in a request submitted to the controller general of police.
The assertion gave by the NPF uncovered that Bonse was secured for his supposed contribution in the robbery, transformation of digital currency wallets, and unapproved reserve redirection from Patricia Advances.
Bonse’s Arrest Brings Hope to Patricia Technologies
The arrest of Bonse brings a glimmer of hope for Patricia Technologies, a crypto trading company that faced significant scrutiny following a hacking incident in May.
The breach resulted in substantial losses of customer funds, prompting Patricia to take action.
In response to customer concerns, Patricia converted the value of customer assets into its native Patricia Token (PTK), with a promise of future repayment.
The company emphasized its commitment to integrity and customer trust, introducing PTK as an internal customer holding.
To facilitate asset recovery after the security breach, Patricia pledged to reimburse holders with 1 Tether (USDT) token for each Patricia Token.
It’s important to note that PTK functions as an internal token representing debt and is managed by the company, rather than being an on-chain token.
To further address customer concerns, Patricia enlisted DLM Trust as an escrow agent in October to facilitate the distribution of customer repayments.
However, disagreements between Patricia and DLM resulted in the withdrawal of the trust company.
Despite this setback, Patricia reaffirmed its intention to proceed with the repayment schedule this month.
As reported, Nigeria is one of the most crypto-savvy nations, even ahead of the United States and European countries.
Nigeria’s crypto awareness stands at 99% as the country leads in digital asset knowledge and perceived investment drive.
15,158 survey participants aged 18- 65 were polled from 15 countries to determine the global acceptance of Web3 and how its utility and “technicalities” have been broken down to give a clearer insight into the future.
Per the data, 99% were fully aware of cryptocurrencies while 70% understood the value, operations, and fundamentals of blockchain technology.