Forensic Investigations Reveal Nigerian Singer, Naira Marley Was Involved In Cyber Fraud

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s Cybercrime Section has discovered that hip-hop singer Azeez Fashola, nicknamed Naira Marley, was involved in credit card fraud.

According to The Punch, Azeez Fashola is facing 11 counts related to alleged credit card theft in violation of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act and the Cyber Crimes Act.

Between November 26 and December 11, 2018, and on May 10, 2018, the singer was accused of committing these crimes. He was charged and arraigned on May 20, 2019, but was released on bond.

The agency, however, on Thursday filed reports of forensic investigations led by Chief Detective Officer of the Section, Whyte Dein, to the Ikoyi Federal High Court to bolster their case against the musician charged with credit card fraud.

According to Dein, his research found that the defendant was involved in credit card fraud.

During the trial, Dein, who was lead in evidence by EFCC counsel Rotimi Oyedepo, told Justice Nicholas Oweibo that they discovered communications on the defendant’s iPhone with a man named Raze who demanded credit card information.

“One of our discoveries from the forensic analysis reveals the defendant sending credit card details, including card numbers and expiration dates, in chat messages with multiple people,” he said. One of the details supplied by the defendant to a person named Raze on his contact list was his Visa card number. The Visa Card details were transmitted to Raze via this communication, and Raze responded that the card was not valid.

“Through inquiry, we were able to determine that the earlier texts he sent were transmitted with an incorrect card that was not legitimate.” We then completed the operation a second time, and this time it worked.”

He further stated that the singer accessed unlawful networks using a multi-lingual browser.

“When connected to the internet, the defendant utilized malicious tools to hide the identity and location of the laptop’s owner, as well as the presence of the Top Browser, which operated as a single gateway to the dark net.” We have a reasonable suspicion that the defendant was involved in fraudulent card activity as a result of this. This was confirmed by a response to our Visa Western Union Card request.

“Marketplaces, where illicit commodities such as narcotics, guns, and stolen credit card numbers are bought and sold, are the types of sites most typically associated with the dark web.” “Hire hitmen, engage in human trafficking, and exchange child pornography are all done in the darkest corners,” he stated.

During the proceedings on October 3, 2019, another forensics expert, Buru Buhari, told the court that his research found stolen card numbers from European, American, and Latin American banks from the singer’s laptop.

The investigations revealed the defendant’s involvement in cyber fraud, according to Dein.

The defense attorney, Olalekan Ojo, SAN, protested, claiming that only the court could decide.

The case was postponed until July 13 for a decision on the issues raised, and July 15 for the trial to resume.

The EFCC had previously presented statements made by Naira Marley while in its custody on May 10, 13, 14, and 15, 2019. The court accepted them as evidence and labeled them G, G1, G2, and G4 correspondingly.

The court also accepted Visa Western Union’s response to the EFCC’s inquiry as evidence. Exhibit H was labeled as the same.