Dein Whyte, a witness in the current trial of Nigerian artist Azeez Fashola, also known as Naira Marley, has disclosed that the singer's credit card was reported fraudulently.This was disclosed to Justice Nicholas Oweibo of the Federal High Court, located in Ikoyi, Lagos, on Thursday by Whyte, the tenth prosecution witness (PW10) in Naira Marley's internet fraud trial.
Whyte, an investigator with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), explained to Justice Oweibo how fraudulent activities caused one of the credit card data located on the singer's device to be detected by Visa, a card payment provider.
This was revealed by the EFCC in a statement on X, whereby Naira Marley is on trial for 11 counts of conspiracy and credit card fraud that the Commission has brought against him.
"Malicious programs that are being used to illegally obtain credit card information, which can be used for card non-present transactions, were found on the device that was recovered from the defendant upon his arrest,” Whyte said, summarizing the investigation's findings.
The PW10, which was led in testimony by the prosecution's attorney, Bilikisu Buhari, also disclosed that harmful technologies were utilized to mask an internet user's active location when their devices were online.
Whyte revealed, "On the defendant's device, tools that are used to verify the validity, active state, and accuracy of credit card credentials as well as the region of the issuer of that card were discovered."
Through the defendant's browser history, the analysis also identified the webpage that he had visited on his computer. Among the websites are ones where credit card numbers are exchanged unlawfully.
Whyte went on to say that the defendant's credentials, name, and email address were registered on both the phone and the laptop that were found on him.
The prosecution's attorney then pressed him to provide the conclusions of his investigation into the credit card information on the defendant's device.
Whyte said, "Investigations showed that he also exchanged those details with other persons with respect to the card details recovered from the defendant's device."
He said that Visa had received a report that one of the cards had been used fraudulently for a transaction.
He claimed that neither the card details nor the financial institution that provided them belonged to him or were in possession of the defendant's device.
During the defendant's attorney Olalekan Ojo's (SAN) cross-examination, Whyte revealed to the court that Visa had received a letter of investigation.
The payment platform subsequently verified that the card had been reported for fraudulent purchases, he continued.
Visa did not connect the credit card fraud to the defendant's device, according to Whyte, "because the investigation was on the card and not on the device being used for the fraud."
Additionally, he emphasized that Visa is not a telecom firm but rather a payment platform. The case was postponed by Justice Oweibo until March 6 and 7, 2024, in order to continue the trial.