Court Sentences Lagos BDC Operator

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

A Lagos-based bureaux de change (BDC) operator, Mr Dabo Malam Ardi, has been convicted and sentenced by Justice F. N. Ogazi of the Federal High Court, Ikoyi, Lagos.

The forex trader was sentenced by the court on Tuesday, August 4, 2026, to two months’ imprisonment, with an option of N80,000 fine for engaging in illegal foreign exchange transactions.

Mr Ardi was convicted and sentenced by the court after pleading guilty to a one-count charge bordering on an illegal foreign exchange transaction.

He was brought before the temple of justice by the Lagos Zonal Directorate 1 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a one-count charge bordering on an illegal foreign exchange transaction.

“That you, Dabo Malam Ardi, sometime in 2026 in Lagos State, within the jurisdiction of this court, engaged in a foreign exchange transaction other than through the official foreign exchange market and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 11(1)(a) of the National Economic Intelligence Committee (Establishment, etc.) Act, 1994, and punishable under Section 11(2) of the same Act,” the charge read.