The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Tuesday, March 25, 2025, arraigned four Chinese nationals and one Nigerian before Justice Aliyu Halilu of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Abuja on charges related to a hotel review scam.
The defendants, Liu Zhiwei, Chen Ye Qui, Zhang Xiao Wen, Lan Shun Bin, and Nwakama Chinyere Ogbonna (also known as Haron Koshear), were arraigned on a three-count charge of conspiracy, cheating, and impersonation.
According to the EFCC, the defendants allegedly conspired to promote hotels in London as five-star establishments through fictitious online reviews, despite knowing that the hotels did not meet five-star standards. The scheme involved using a fake identity and engaging unsuspecting victims via a Telegram account, charging $5 per review.
One of the charges reads:
“That you, LIU ZHIWEI, CHEN YE QUI, ZHANG XIAO WEN, LAN SHUN BIN and NWAKAMA CHINYERE OGBONNA (a.k.a Haron Koshear), sometime in December 2024 at Abuja, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did agree among yourselves to engage in cheating by using the fictitious identity of Haron Koshear to promote hotels in London as five-star establishments for payment of $5, when you knew they were not five-star hotels, thereby committing an offence contrary to Section 96(1)(a) of the Penal Code, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (Abuja), 1990 and punishable under Section 97(1)(2) of the same Act.”
The defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Prosecution counsel, Maryam Aminu Ahmed, requested the court to set a trial date and remand the defendants in a correctional facility pending the hearing. However, defense counsel, Yahaya Dangana, SAN, applied for bail for his clients.
Justice Halilu adjourned the matter to March 27, 2025, for the hearing of the bail applications. He ordered that Liu Zhiwei, Chen Ye Qui, Zhang Xiao Wen, and Lan Shun Bin be remanded in Kuje Correctional Center and that Nwakama Chinyere Ogbonna be held at Suleja Correctional Center.
The suspects were among 105 individuals arrested by EFCC operatives on January 9, 2025, at a business apartment in the Gudu area of Abuja. They are accused of orchestrating a global scam targeting victims and hotels in Europe and other parts of the world.
