(Sept. 24, 2019) On August 2, 2019, three Nigerian siblings were sentenced in Woolwich Crown Court in London to imprisonment for conspiracy to money launder almost £1 million (about US$1.2 million) in violation of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. The offenders had laundered the money for the Black Axe organization, a banned organization in Nigeria that has spread to other countries and whose members are allegedly involved in crimes such as murder, drug dealing, fraud, and rape.
The alleged leader of Black Axe, Nigerian Delta State politician Augustus Bemigho-Eyeoyibo, is the brother-in-law of the convicted siblings. In this case, police identified 174 suspicious transactions that had entered the defendants’ bank accounts and were determined to be money stolen through telephone and email scams. Police also discovered text messages between Bemigho-Eyeoyibo and the defendants detailing the amounts of the transactions, what to do with the money once it entered their accounts, and how much they could retain for themselves.
One sibling was sentenced to seven years and seven months in prison; a second was sentenced to six years and six months; the youngest of the three was sentenced to two years and six months. The Proceeds of Crime division of the Crown Prosecution Service has stated that it will use its powers to recover the proceeds of crime at a later date.