Court convicts BDC operator of illegal forex trading

The Federal High Court in Lagos on Tuesday sentenced a bureau de change (BDC) operator, Dabo Ardi, to two months in prison for engaging in foreign exchange transactions outside the official market.

Trial judge, F.N. Ogazi, convicted Mr Ardi after he pleaded guilty to a one-count filed against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The judge, however, gave him the option of paying a N80,000 fine.

The EFCC, in a statement by its Head of Media and Publicity, Dele Oyewale, explained that Mr Ardi was prosecuted for engaging in an illegal foreign exchange transaction.

bureau de change (BDC) operator, Dabo Ardi

The charge alleged that Mr Ardi, sometime in 2026 in Lagos, conducted a foreign exchange transaction outside the official foreign exchange market, contrary to Section 11(1)(a) of the National Economic Intelligence Committee (Establishment, etc.) Act, 1994, and punishable under Section 11(2) of the law.

When the charge was read to him, Mr Ardi pleaded guilty.

Following his plea, the prosecution lawyer, S.I. Suleiman reviewed the facts of the case and urged the court to convict and sentence him accordingly.

Mr Ogazi subsequently found him guilty and sentenced him to two months’ imprisonment, with an option of N80,000 fine.

The conviction is the latest in a number of cases involving BDC operators prosecuted by the EFCC at the Lagos court over foreign exchange transactions conducted outside the official market.

On 31 July, another judge Akintayo Aluko sentenced four BDC operators — Umar Muhammad Lamido, Yusuf Musa Yusuf, Abdulmuhimin Mahmud and Muhammed Musa — to 12 months’ imprisonment each for similar offences.

The judge gave each of them an option of N100,000 fine after they pleaded guilty to separate one-count charges filed by the EFCC.

The charges were also brought under Section 11(1)(a) of the 1994 Act.

The EFCC had prosecuted another BDC operator, Faruk Umar, for a similar offence in 2025.

Another judge Chukwujekwu Aneke of the Federal High Court in Lagos sentenced Mr Umar to six months’ imprisonment in February 2025, with an option of N50,000 fine.

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The EFCC noted that Mr Umar was arrested in August 2024 around the Eko Hotel area of Victoria Island, Lagos, alongside other suspected illegal BDC operators.

During the trial, an EFCC investigating officer, Hamisu Sanni, told the court that Mr Umar admitted buying and selling foreign currency without a Central Bank of Nigeria licence.

The court also heard that a forensic examination of his phone uncovered more than 40 conversations relating to forex transactions with other individuals.

Mr Aneke ordered Mr Umar’s phone forfeited to the Federal Government.