The Kaduna Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned Audu Ishida, also known as Baddie Kylemilli, for internet crime.
Ishida faces a one-count charge of impersonation, retention of proceeds of crime, and money laundering before Justice Hauwa’u Buhari of the Federal High Court in Kaduna State.
The charge reads: “That you, Audu Ishida (Baddie Kylemilli), on or about the 2nd of June, 2024, in Jos, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, retained the total sum of $50 USD from your victim which you reasonably ought to have known forms part of the proceeds of an unlawful act, thereby committing an offence contrary to Section 20(a) of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022 and punishable under Section 20(b) of the same Act.”
Ishida pleaded “not guilty” to the charge. Consequently, prosecution counsel M.E. Eimonye requested a trial date and asked for the defendant to be remanded in the custody of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCS). Defence counsel Umar Usman did not object.
Justice Buhari ordered Ishida to be remanded in the Nigerian Correctional Centre, Kaduna, and adjourned the case till November 7, 2024, for the commencement of the trial.
Ishida was arrested along with other members of an internet fraud ring in Jos, Plateau State, following an intelligence-driven raid by operatives of the Kaduna Zonal Command of the EFCC.
Investigations revealed that Ishida created fake online video content and dating sites to defraud unsuspecting victims. Further investigations showed that he obtained the proceeds of his crime through gift cards, which he traded online via an FSS card app, converting the foreign currency to Naira and paying it into his bank accounts.
