The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Monday arraigned a Chinese national, Liu Beixiang, also known as Lao Liu, before Justice Ayokunle Faji of the Federal High Court in Lagos, over an allegation of providing false information to a government official.
Liu faces a one-count charge of intentionally providing false information to an EFCC officer while on duty.
The EFCC informed the court that Liu supplied false information to a Federal Government of Nigeria officer in Lagos sometime in December 2024 while carrying out his official duties.
The defendant pleaded not guilty when the charge was read to him.
According to the allegation, the offence is punishable under Section 16(1) of the EFCC Act of 2004.
Following his plea, prosecuting attorney Babatunde Sonoiki requested a trial date and urged the court to confine Liu in a detention facility pending the trial.
However, F.A. Dalmeda, Liu’s counsel, informed the court that an application for a plea bargain had already been made to the EFCC.
He also revealed that a motion for bail had been filed and that the anti-graft agency had answered earlier that day.
“We filed an application for a plea bargain, and we have also filed a motion for bail, which the EFCC responded to this morning,” Dalmeda said.
“We need a date for us to report on the plea bargain,” he said.
Justice Faji then delayed the case until June 23, 2025, for a report on the plea bargain and ordered that the defendant be held in a correctional facility.
