One of Nigeria’s well-known celebrities, a transgender woman popularly referred to as Bobrisky has been found guilty of naira abuse by a Federal High Court in Lagos.
Bobrisky was convicted after pleading guilty to charges related to the abuse of Naira notes.
Bobrisky was dragged to court by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a six-count charge.
Bobrisky was charged with four counts of abusing the Naira notes and two counts of money laundering following his arrest on Wednesday.
But two of the charges on money laundering were dropped.
The crossdresser was arrested after a video of him surfaced online spraying money at the premiere of Ajakaju which was produced by actress and producer Eniola Ajao, last month at Film One Circle Mall in the upscale Lekki neighbourhood on March 24, 2024.
Punch Nigeria published a story on Friday, April 5, stating that the social media influencer informed the judge that he had no idea that tampering with the naira note or coin is an offence punishable by law.
Bobrisky expressed his remorse to the court and said that if given another chance, he would use it to educate his supporters against money-spraying.
He also promised to upload a video on the subject matter and never to repeat the mistake.
Judge Abimbola Awogboro found Bobrisky guilty after considering all facts of the case.
In the wake of Bobrisky’s arrest on Wednesday, the EFCC disclosed that, in addition to the event on March 24, its investigation indicated that Bobrisky had tampered with the naira multiple times in 2023.
In addition, the influencer was accused of money laundering twice. The agency claims that the transvestite neglected to notify the proper authorities about the operations of a business he founded and named the Bob Express.
EFCC revealed in a statement that on different occasions millions of naira were paid into the company’s account raising suspicions.
“In count five, Bobrisky, while trading under the name and style of Bob Express between 1 September 2021 and 4 April 2024 in Lagos, failed to submit to the Special Control Unit Against Money Laundering a declaration of the activities of the said company, (Bob Express), within which period the total sum of N127.7m was paid into the company account domiciled with Ecobank.
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“In count six, Bobrisky is also accused of failing to submit a declaration of the activities of the company within the same period when another N53 million was paid into the company’s account, thereby committing an offence contrary to Section 6(1)(a), and Section 19(1) (f) of the Money Laundering (Prevention And Prohibition) Act and punishable under Section 19 (2) (b) of the same Act.”
However, in court on Friday, the money laundering charges were struck out by Justice Abimbola Awogboro.
This was after the EFCC’s prosecution counsel, Suleiman Suleiman, prayed to the court to strike out counts five and six (money laundering charges) and arraign him on counts one to four.
Meanwhile, the court has yet to announce the sentence.