By John Umeh
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has declared a 41-year-old foreign national, Elie Bitar, wanted in connection with a major cryptocurrency fraud carried out through the online trading platform, Crypto Bridge Exchange (CBEX).
According to a statement released by the Commission, Bitar is being sought for his alleged involvement in a scheme that exploited the CBEX platform to defraud numerous investors across Nigeria.
The EFCC’s notice reads: “The public is hereby notified that ELIE BITAR, whose photograph appears above, is wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for fraud allegedly perpetrated on an online trading platform called Crypto Bridge Exchange (CBEX).”
Investigations by the EFCC have reportedly traced several suspicious transactions back to Bitar and other individuals linked to the platform, some of whom are already in custody.
The Commission disclosed that Bitar’s last known address is “Eng. George Enemoh Crescent, Lekki Phase 1, Lekki, Lagos State.”
Members of the public with any information regarding his whereabouts are urged to report to any of the EFCC’s zonal offices located in Ibadan, Uyo, Sokoto, Maiduguri, Benin, Makurdi, Kaduna, Ilorin, Enugu, Kano, Lagos, Gombe, Port Harcourt, or Abuja.
The development follows the collapse of Crypto Bridge Exchange in April, which allegedly wiped out over N1.3 trillion in investors’ funds, leaving thousands of Nigerians in financial distress.
