EFCC SHIFTS TO PREVENTIVE APPROACH, FREEZES SUSPICIOUS FUNDS WITHIN 72 HOURS – OLUKOYEDE
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Agency Report
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) says it is shifting from a reactive approach to financial crime to a preventive strategy involving early detection, monitoring of suspicious transactions and swift freezing of assets.
The EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, disclosed this on Monday in Abuja during a media interactive session marking his third year in office.
Olukoyede said the commission had established the Fraud Risk Assessment and Control Department (FRAC) to monitor suspicious financial movements and intervene before funds could be diverted or dissipated.
“Why must we be waiting for money to be stolen? When we see money moving suspiciously, we move in and freeze. Pending 72 hours, we ask: where is this money going?” he said.
The EFCC chairman cited instances where funds were transferred from local government accounts to companies and subsequently moved into cryptocurrency wallets, describing the trend as one of the emerging challenges in financial crime investigations.
According to him, some public officials now move allegedly stolen funds into cryptocurrency wallets within 24 hours, often through young intermediaries, making the recovery and tracing of such assets more difficult.
“At the press of a button, you can collapse the entire banking industry in Nigeria. Most of the data we are investigating now, you can’t trace tangible assets to them,” Olukoyede said.
He disclosed that about 40 virtual asset platforms had been licensed in Nigeria, giving the commission greater capacity to trace registered cryptocurrency wallets.
The EFCC chairman also said that, with presidential approval, the commission and relevant government agencies had established a national confiscation wallet for the storage of seized cryptocurrencies.
“One of the problems we used to have was: where do you put confiscated virtual assets? Today we have a national wallet that we put them into,” he said.
On the commission’s legal strategy, Olukoyede said the EFCC was increasingly relying on Section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud Act to pursue civil asset forfeiture rather than waiting for lengthy criminal trials before recovering proceeds of crime.
“This is faster and quicker than criminal trial. We don’t have to wait 10, 15 years when witnesses die and assets are dissipated,” he said.
He explained that under the civil forfeiture process, the commission could institute proceedings directly against an asset, while anyone claiming ownership would be required to establish the legitimate source of the funds used to acquire it.
Olukoyede said the approach had produced results in several ongoing cases involving assets allegedly traced to former public officials.
On the management of forfeited assets, he clarified that the EFCC does not directly manage such properties but engages professionals in accordance with the Proceeds of Crime Act 2022.
“For real estate we have estate managers. For virtual assets, we have stock market professionals. For a radio station we call broadcast experts,” he said.
He added that the commission had begun disposing of assets that were depreciating while cases remained in court, with the proceeds kept in escrow accounts pending final judicial determination.
According to him, some high-profile hotels recently forfeited in Lagos now have new management, while banks have been directed to remit proceeds from their sales and income to the EFCC.
Olukoyede also disclosed that the commission had established a dedicated Process and Proceeds Management (PCM) Directorate to oversee forfeited assets.
The EFCC chairman called for stronger policy and institutional reforms to address the root causes of financial crime, stressing that law enforcement alone could not win the fight against corruption.
“The most effective system is not law enforcement. It is the policy regime, institutional reforms that close leakages,” he said.
He urged the media and civil society organisations to strengthen their watchdog roles and remain actively involved in efforts to expose and prevent corruption in the country.
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