The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, on Thursday, submitted reports of forensic investigations led by Whyte Dein to corroborate their case against singer Naira Marley, charged with credit card fraud before the Ikoyi Federal High Court.
Dein, the chief detective officer of the cybercrime section told the court that his team’s investigations revealed that the defendant was involved in credit card fraud.
Naira Marley born Azeez Fashola is being tried on 11 counts bordering on conspiracy, possession of counterfeit credit cards and fraud.
At the resumed hearing of the matter on Thursday, the witness told the trial judge, Justice Nicholas Oweibo, that his team’s investigation revealed various messages sent from the defendant’s iPhone to one Raze, who had asked for a credit card number and validity date.
Dein stated, “one of our findings from the forensic report shows the exchange of chat messages with several persons when the defendant sent credit card details, including card numbers and expiration dates. Visa Card details were one of those sent by the defendant to a certain person known on his contact list as Raze. This message sent Visa Card details to Raze, after which Raze replied to him that the card was not valid.
Dein also explained that the singer used a multi-lingual browser to access illegal networks.
He said: “The defendant used malicious tools to disguise the identity and location of the user of the laptop when connected to the internet along with the presence of the Top Browser which acted as a single gateway to the dark net. This gave us a reasonable ground to suspect that the defendant had been engaging in fraudulent card activities. And this was established through a reply to our request to Visa Western Union Card.”
“The types of sites most commonly associated with the dark web are marketplaces where illicit goods such as narcotics, firearms, and stolen credit card numbers are bought and sold. The darkest corners are used to hire hitmen, engage in human trafficking, and exchange child pornography.”
Another forensics expert, Buru Buhari on October 3, 2019, during the proceedings, told the court that his investigations revealed stolen card details issued by European, American, and Latin American banks from the singer’s laptop.
Dein concluded by saying the investigations pointed out the defendant’s involvement in cyber fraud. However, the defense counsel, Olalekan Ojo, SAN, objected and said only the court could conclude.
The case was adjourned till July 13 for a ruling on the point.
