The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Monday arraigned a Chinese national, Liu Beixiang, also known as Lao Liu, before Justice Ayokunle Faji of the Federal High Court in Lagos for allegedly providing false information to a government official.
The EFCC accused Liu of knowingly giving misleading details to one of its officers during an official assignment in December 2024.
Reading the one-count charge to the court, prosecution counsel Babatunde Sonoiki stated that the defendant violated Section 16(1) of the EFCC Act, 2004, which criminalizes the act of supplying false information to a public official.
“Liu Beixiang, also known as Lao Liu, knowingly gave information he knew to be false to a Federal Government officer acting in the course of duty,” Sonoiki told the court.
The defendant pleaded not guilty to the charge.
Following the plea, Sonoiki urged the court to remand Liu in a correctional facility pending trial and requested a trial date.
However, defence counsel F.A. Dalmeda informed the court that a plea bargain application had already been submitted to the EFCC.
“We filed an application for a plea bargain, and we have also filed a motion for bail, which the EFCC responded to this morning,” Dalmeda explained.
Justice Faji adjourned the case until June 23, 2025, for the plea bargain report.
He ordered that Liu be remanded in a correctional facility until then.
