Money Laundering: EFCC Goes After Politicians, Lawyers, Others

It will no longer be business as usual for politicians who launder money through their lawyers, bank accounts’ managers, precious stone dealers and other Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions (DNFBPs), the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), said yesterday.

The anti-graft agency spoke of plans to beam its searchlight on those aiding financial and financial crimes. It’s Chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa, said the agency was stepping up its probe of the DNFBPs through its Special Control Unit Against Money Laundering (SCUML) under the newly enacted Money Laundering Prohibition and Prevention Act, 2022.

Bawa, who announced that the commission had recorded over 2,701 convictions as of October 7, up from the 2,220 convictions recorded in 2021, renewed the agency’s commitment to fighting all forms of economic crimes.

The EFCC boss spoke in Lagos during a one-day workshop on financial crimes reporting organised for journalists by the commission.

Addressing participants through an e-conference platform, he described the conviction rate as the agency’s highest-ever.

He said the commission had also recovered assets running into several billions of naira.

On the conviction rate, Bawa said: “Without sounding immodest, our record over the years distinguishes the EFCC as perhaps the most effective law enforcement agency in Nigeria. We have strived to up the ante since my appointment over one year ago.

“In my time in charge, we have engineered a number of reforms and restructuring whose impact is already being seen in the terms of the number of stolen assets recovery and convictions for financial crimes.

“In 2021, the Commission secured 2,220 convictions. This has jumped to 2,701 by October 7, 2022. Assets running into several billions of Naira have also been recovered by the commission.”

On how the right information from members of the public can curb financial crimes, he said: “It is for this reason we are intensifying our public enlightenment engagements which, in a few weeks’ time will witness the formal launch of the EFCC Radio.”

According to him, the nation’s legislative reforms that recently birthed the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, of 2022 will further aid the war against financial crimes in Nigeria.

“There are certain provisions of this new law that I believe will affect you directly or indirectly. One is the secrecy of financial transactions. The new law criminalises the operation of numbered accounts and also mandates financial institutions to ascertain the beneficial owners of accounts before opening such accounts.

“There is a more robust requirement for due diligence and reporting obligation by financial institutions and non-financial business and professions to the Special Control Unit Against Money Laundering (SCUML).”

On the forthcoming 2023 general elections, Bawa said the commission was beaming its searchlight on some politicians.

He said the commission was also paying serious attention to the activities of some lawyers, car dealers, estate operators, precious stone dealers, accountants, and construction companies amongst others, adding that investigations revealed that they had become channels of money laundering.

Responding to a question from The Nation about how the agency would separate laundered funds from lawyers’ fees, Bawa said the truth would be unravelled by investigations.

“What we have seen time and time again is that some firms that are finding their way, various accounts that are there are being used for laundering and we have quite a number of cases to show for that.

“They can hide under the payment of fees to do that. But at the end of the day, investigations will reveal whether the payments that the legal practitioner received is payment of fees or otherwise. They are getting smarter, and so are we.”

He expressed confidence that with access to technology such as a polygraph, the EFCC’s would be able to find the truth.

Bawa said: “Luckily for us, we have a polygraph machine, a polygraph test will be able to tell us the truth, whether or not the monies that you received are payment for fees or otherwise.

“But, we have seen, for instance, a legal practitioner that is the one paying for (a suspect’s) ticket, he’s the one paying for his (children’s) school fees, he’s the one paying for almost everything.”