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Tag: EFCC BOSS

  • How politicians now hide their loot in Cryptocurrencies – EFCC boss

    How politicians now hide their loot in Cryptocurrencies – EFCC boss

    Ola Olukoyede, the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has exposed how some corrupt politicians use cryptocurrencies to hide their illicit wealth.

    Olukoyede while commemorating Africa Anti-Corruption Day on Thursday shared how the anti-graft agency uncovered a trend in which public officials now use cryptocurrency wallets to stash stolen public funds and conduct illicit transactions.

    He warned that while the rise of virtual assets had transformed financial transactions globally, it had also created new avenues for money laundering and financial crimes.

    He added that the EFCC was not helpless in the face of the sophisticated schemes, noting that proactive training and intelligence sharing had enabled the commission to identify and investigate such cases.

    Olukoyede said, “Virtual asset fraud is on the rise. Our findings show that fraudulent politicians are already perfecting schemes and hiding their loot in cryptocurrencies to beat the investigative blackness of anti-corruption agencies.

    “Stolen funds and unexplained wealth are being warehoused in wallets and payment for services are being done through this window.” 

    He said, “Technology is moving at a supersonic speed around the world.

    “The advent of virtual assets is a response to one of the qualities of money as a store of value like it is known in our elementary economies.”

    “However, as with every progressive innovation, fraud starts to usually evolve, evolve ways of perverting their genuine purposes.” 

    “But for us in the EFCC, virtual asset fraud and investment scams are not hard nuts to crack.

    “Proactive and broad-based training and intelligence are bringing fraudulent schemes to the fore,” he added.

  • Terrorism war, tax evasion claim N11.4trn –EFCC boss

    Terrorism war, tax evasion claim N11.4trn –EFCC boss

    The Federal Government has reportedly spent N6tn on the terrorism war since 2008, while about N5.4tn was lost to tax evasion by multi-national corporations functioning in the country between 2011 and 2021.

    This is aside the stealing of resources in the nation’s oil and gas sector.

    The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Abdulrasheed Bawa, revealed this on Friday, while presenting a paper titled, ‘Combating Crime, Corruption and implication for Development and Security,’ at the 38th Cambridge International Symposium on Economic Crime, organised by the Centre for International Documentation on Organised and Economic Crime, Jesus College, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom.

    According to the EFCC boss represented by his Deputy Chief of Staff, Sambo Mayana, between March when he took office and now, the anti-graft agency has recovered over N6bn from financial and economic saboteurs.

    This was contained in a statement by the EFCC spokesman, Wilson Uwujaren, titled, ‘In UK, Bawa calls on world leaders to rise to the challenge of fighting corruption.’

    Quoting a report by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, he noted that resources that could support a country’s development are lost through criminal acts such as corruption, tax evasion, money laundering, and others.

    Bawa noted, “The spoiler effects on countries’ development processes are diverse, and particularly severe for fragile states: economic crime, including illicit financial flows, diverts much needed resources needed to rebuild countries’ public services, from security and justice to basic social services such as health and education.”

    According to him, records show that as at August 2021, the EFCC had recorded over 3,408 convictions.

    “From the time I took over as the Executive Chairman, on the 5th of March 2021, we have recovered over N6bn; over $161m; over £13,000; €1,730, 200 Canadian dollars; CFA 373,000; ¥8,430 and 30 real estates.

    “We have arrested over 1,500 Internet fraudsters, many of whom are being prosecuted,” he added.

    The EFCC chair said the absence of substantial improvement in the living condition of the people in Africa and other developing countries despite their natural resources endowment was due to pervasive economic crimes in those countries.

    He said, “The incidence of illegal mining, smuggling of goods, tax evasion, illegal oil bunkering, illegal arms deals to mention a few does not allow the government to receive the full accruals from the continent’s vast resources that are needed for development.

    “The revenue generated are embezzled by government officials and their collaborators in the private sector. This does not allow for economic growth and by extension a hindrance to development.”

     

  • Alleged corruption: Why Tinubu is still a free man – EFCC boss

    Alleged corruption: Why Tinubu is still a free man – EFCC boss

    Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Abdulrasheed Bawa, has said former Lagos Governor , Bola Tinubu is still a free man because investigations have not been concluded on the allegations against him.

    He hinted that investigations have to be concluded to determine if Tinubu will be arrested.

    “You asked me a question earlier about arresting people before investigation and now you are saying why didn’t we arrest Tinubu? Why didn’t you just say ‘arrest him’?” Bawa said in an exclusive interview with ThisDay on Sunday.

    “Investigation is ongoing. When you are investigating matters like this, they don’t end in a day. Thousands of investigations are going on, on a daily basis.

    “You understand? You know you are from the media. After you will say we are doing media trial.”

    Bawa was reported to have have requested for Tinubu’s assets declaration form when he was the head of Lagos Zonal Office, and has already dusted the former governor’s file when he became head of the commission.

  • How minister laundered $37m through property deal – EFCC boss

    How minister laundered $37m through property deal – EFCC boss

    Abdulrasheed Bawa, Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, has described the real estate sector as one with huge level of corruption in the country.

    The EFCC chief said that about 90 to 100 percent of resources are being laundered through the sector.

    Bawa stated this while featuring on Sunrise Daily, a programme on Channels Television. He made this known on Tuesday.

    He said the commission investigated a female minister, who he said, bought $37.5m property from a bank and deposited $20m cash.

    Bawa, who is celebrating his 100 days in office, did not however reveal the identity of the suspect or whether she is a current or former minister.

    He said, “One of the problems we have in the country is the real estate. Ninety to 100 per cent of the resources are being laundered through the real estate. Of course, they are being regulated but they are not enough in terms of how they give their returns to the Special Control Unit.

    “We investigated a matter in which a bank MD marketed a property to a minister and agreed to purchase it at $37.5m. The bank then sent a vehicle to her house to evacuate $20m from her house in the first instance.

    “The bank succeeded to put it in their system and paid the developer and then a lawyer set up a special purpose vehicle where the title documents were transferred into and of course, he is posing as the owner of the house.

    “Without the help of the banker, the minister couldn’t have imagined collecting $20m from anyone with opportunity from the real sector; she could not have thought of where to launder the proceeds of crime.”