Published: Saturday, June 8, 2024
By NOEL SICHALWE Associated Press
LUSAKA (Zambia) — A Zambian Court sentenced on Friday 22 Chinese nationals for cybercrimes, including internet fraud and online scams that targeted Zambians, as well as people from Singapore and Peru, and the United Arab Emirates.
The Magistrates Court of Lusaka in the capital sentenced them to terms ranging between seven and eleven years. They were also fined between $1,500 to $3,000 by the court after pleading guilty on Wednesday to charges of computer misrepresentation and identity fraud, as well as illegally operating a service or network. The same changes were also used to sentence and fine a man from Cameroon.
The group was part of 77 people arrested in April, most of whom were Zambians. Police described the group as “a sophisticated internet fraud syndicate.”
Nason Banda said that investigations were launched after the authorities observed an increase in cyber-related fraud and people began complaining about losing money inexplicably from their bank accounts or mobile phones.
In April, officers from the commission and police, as well as the immigration department, anti-terrorism unit, and the Immigration Department raided a Chinese business in a posh suburb of Lusaka. They arrested 77 people, including the ones sentenced on Friday. The raid resulted in the seizure of over 13,000 SIM cards for local and foreign mobile phones, two firearms, and 78 cartridges.
Banda stated in April that the business, Golden Top Support Services had used “unsuspecting”, Zambians between the ages of 20 and 25, to use SIM cards for “deceptive conversations” with “unsuspecting mobile phone users on various platforms, such as WhatsApp and Telegram chat rooms, and others using scripted dialogs,” Banda explained after the raid. Bail was set for the locals.