EFCC: PUBLIC FUNDS TRANSFERRED FROM LG ACCOUNTS INTO CRYPTO WALLETS
Read Time:2 Minute, 42 Second
By:Tajudeen Aminat
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has revealed that it uncovered the movement of public funds from a local government account to a private company and subsequently into cryptocurrency wallets.
The EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, disclosed this on Monday while speaking to media executives and journalists in Abuja, saying the commission could not overlook suspicious financial transactions.
Olukoyede did not identify the local government, company or state involved in the transaction.
He explained that the commission’s Fraud Risk Assessment and Control Department detected the suspicious transfers and intervened by temporarily freezing the funds for 72 hours to determine their destination and purpose.
The EFCC chairman said the agency had adopted a proactive approach to financial crimes by intervening before suspected illicit funds could be completely moved or concealed.
He said, “When we see money moving suspiciously, we move in and freeze it in the interim. I know some of you are calling for my head. The account was frozen for 72 hours. Okay, come and show where this money is going? Why are you moving money? We saw money being moved from the local government account to a company. Apart from that phase, we discovered that the money has gone into cryptocurrency wallets.”
Olukoyede questioned whether transferring public funds into cryptocurrency wallets could be justified as part of efforts to develop communities.
He argued that law enforcement agencies should no longer wait until public funds are stolen before taking action, but should instead prevent suspicious transactions from being completed.
The EFCC boss said the development followed growing concerns over the use of cryptocurrency to conceal allegedly stolen public funds.
According to him, some public officials now allegedly use young people as fronts to move illicit funds through cryptocurrency wallets, making it difficult to trace tangible assets linked to them.
Olukoyede said the funds were sometimes transferred abroad and used to purchase properties and luxury goods.
He disclosed that the EFCC had developed the capacity to trace cryptocurrency wallets, particularly those connected to virtual asset platforms registered in Nigeria.
He added that about 40 virtual asset platforms had been licensed as part of efforts to strengthen regulation and oversight of the sector.
The EFCC chairman also revealed that the commission had recovered virtual assets linked to the CBEX fraud but faced challenges in managing confiscated cryptocurrency.
He said the Federal Government had subsequently approved the creation of a national confiscation wallet where virtual assets recovered by law enforcement agencies would be kept.
Olukoyede further called for stronger technological capacity among financial and law enforcement institutions to tackle the evolving methods used to move illicit funds through cryptocurrency.
On the commission’s achievements, he said EFCC activities had contributed to revenue mobilisation, with approximately N288.1bn recovered in federal and state tax revenues during the period under review.
He said the figure comprised N173.2bn in federal tax recoveries and N114.9bn recovered through State Internal Revenue Services.
Olukoyede also disclosed that more than 40 EFCC personnel had been dismissed over alleged corruption and financial misconduct within the past two and a half to three years.
He added that some of the dismissed officials were already facing prosecution, while case files concerning others were being prepared for prosecution.
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