EFCC may prosecute 300 forex racketeers

300 forex racketeers who trade on peer-to-peer platforms without adhering to financial norms may face legal action from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

During an interactive programme with editors and bureau chiefs in Abuja on Tuesday, EFCC Chairman Ola Olukoyede disclosed that the accounts were blocked as a result of a court order on Monday.

One of the accounts exchanged almost $15 billion in the last year, he revealed.

The Nigerian Communications Commission, acting on behalf of the Federal Government, recently blocked Binance's and other cryptocurrency companies' websites in an effort to stop what it saw as ongoing manipulation of the foreign exchange market and unlawful money transfers.

Additionally, it detained two high-ranking officials of the cryptocurrency exchange Binance while the authorities worked to curb speculation on the naira by cracking down on cryptocurrency exchanges.
In the well-known Wuse Zone 4 in Abuja, the government dispatched EFCC agents to apprehend Bureau De Change operators.

Despite the fact that the nation cannot access the websites of Binance, Coinbase, and Kraken, sources claim that cryptocurrency traders are now utilising messaging services like Telegram, which has an in-app wallet, and alternatives like Bybit, Bitget, Kucoin, and Coincola.

But Olukoyede clarified that the FX accounts were blocked to guarantee the security of the foreign exchange market and safeguard the economy, stressing the steps being done to preserve the naira and boost the economy.

He said that the naira's value and the FX market have benefited from the initiatives.

He underlined that if the commission failed, Nigeria had failed and that it needed the backing of Nigerians to succeed.

Not as good as Binance

Olukoyede declared, "We follow the law in all we do. Are you aware that the Binance case we are working on right now has assisted us in reducing the craziness around the FX market?

‘’All of a sudden, we learned that there are users in the system performing worse than Binance. They referred to them as P2P and so forth. We have seen that the value of dollars has begun to increase within the past two days. After a day of calm, the value of the naira dropped by N20 and N25 once more. I'm not sure if you observed that.

"Some of these guys' actions on P2P networks like coolcoin were the cause of it. It's likely that some of you saw them on social media. Just to shock you, I requested that they freeze more than 300 accounts yesterday, Monday. One of those men (account owners), we discovered, had traded more than $15 billion in the previous year.

The attorney went on, claiming that if the EFCC hadn't taken action against the 300 unauthorised accounts, the naira would have crashed within the next week.

"Our work is serious," he continued. 18 hours a day are spent at work. We're not saying that Nigerians should applaud us because that's what we signed up for; rather, we're saying that we should get what we deserve. Like Nigerians, we are also human.

"There were over 300 accounts involved in illegal forex trading, and if we hadn't moved yesterday, there would have been another crash within the following week. Some folks merely wish for things in this country to get worse. We have to figure out how to collaborate. We received a directive to freeze those accounts; can you imagine the consequences if we hadn't done so?

The head of the EFCC stated that the emphasis of his organisation is illicit mining, which he defined as an economic crime.

"Miners without a permit"

He said that 40 trucks carrying lithium that had been mined illegally had recently been seized by EFCC agents, and he pledged to bring charges against the offenders.

He promised to follow the case through to its logical conclusion and provided information on the present efforts to arrest Yahaya Bello, the former governor of Kogi State.

Olukoyede threatened to step down as head of the EFCC in the event that Bello was not charged, while simultaneously vowing to hold those responsible for impeding the former governor's arrest accountable.

The head of the EFCC promised that anyone responsible for impeding Bello's arrest from his home in Abuja will suffer the full force of the law.

He made a suggestion that the governor of Kogi State, Usman Ododo, who is currently in office and is suspected of aiding his predecessor in eluding capture, might face charges for impeding an official proceeding.

Bello is being sought to be charged by the EFCC on 19 counts relating to purported money laundering, breach of trust, and misappropriation of funds to the tune of N80.2bn.
Olukoyede declared that his soldiers and he will not give up on sanitising the nation, regardless of the actions of others or the intensity of the attacks against the anti-graft agency.

Following the accusations of corruption made against him, he disclosed how he called Bello.

"I called Yahaya Bello, as a serving governor, to come to my office to clear himself," Olukoyede stated. That was a bad thing for me to do. He would not come, however, claiming that a specific senator had positioned more than a hundred media in my office.

"He stated that my men should go to his village to question him, but I told him he could use my private gate to give him cover."

Olukoyede stated that the attempt by the EFCC to apprehend the former governor at his home was legal.

Instead, we have followed the law. I didn't make the case; I inherited it. What has prevented him from submitting to the law? He queries.

"I have charged two former governors who have been granted bail now: Willie Obiano and Abdulfatah Ahmed," he continued.

"We would have gone after him since January, but we waited for the court order," he continued. My men arrived as early as 7 am; there were more than 50 of them. They put in place security. It was there that we encountered more than thirty armed cops. There would have been victims and we would have traded gunfire.

"The Kogi governor drove in just as my troops were going to move in, and they later changed the narrative.”

He swore that everyone who had touched the country's finances would be looked into and put on trial.

"Why not Yahaya Bello, if I can help my kinsman Chief Olu Agunloye, former governor of Kwara Abdulfatah Ahmed, and former governor of Anambra Willie Obiano?" Olukoyede observed.

He went on to disclose how the former governor took $720,000 out of state funds to cover his child's tuition ahead of time.

Olukoyede observed that Bello used a Bureau de Change operator to transmit the $720,000 from the state's funds.

"A sitting governor, because he knew that he was going, he removed money directly from government's account to bureau de change, and used it to pay his child's school fee in advance," the head of the EFCC said, expressing his displeasure with the former governor for refusing to comply with the agency's summons. dollars, paying $720,000 upfront, knowing he was going to move out of the government mansion.

He expressed shock at the actions of online scammers, claiming that some dishonest Nigerians were supporting them.

He claims that in 2022, cyber fraud cost banks in the nation approximately N8 billion.

He stated that cybercrime affected over 71% of Nigerian businesses in 2022 and that the anti-graft agency's battle against online fraud is essential to preserving the country's future.

Olukoyede revealed that the commission has established a cybercrime research institute where the Yahoo Yahoo boys—a term used locally to refer to convicted online scammers—will receive training on how to apply their knowledge to improving society.

Additionally, according to the EFCC chair, two of its agents are being prosecuted for breaking the agency's code of conduct.

The directorate of fraud risk assessment/control and ethics/integrity was established, among other measures, he said, to strengthen the commission's anti-corruption efforts.

In the meantime, ex-governor Bello received his charges on Tuesday through his attorney, Abdulwahab Muhammad (SAN), following a ruling by Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court, Maitama, Abuja, that the defendant ought to be served through his attorney, particularly given his repeated failure to appear in court.

Dele Oyewale, the EFCC spokesman, said as much in a statement on Tuesday.

Bello, his brother Ali Bello, Dauda Suleiman, and Abdulsalam Hudu are all being prosecuted by the EFCC on 19 counts related to money laundering totaling N80.2 billion.

Bello refused to give up or allow the officers entrance to his home, ending a multi-hour standoff that foiled the commission's effort to arrest him last Wednesday at his Abuja apartment.

After then, he reportedly received assistance from Governor Ododo, who drove him away in his automobile and helped him escape the dragnet.

The Nigeria Immigration Service placed him on its watchlist, and the EFCC proclaimed him wanted.

Adeola Adedipe (SAN), Bello's attorney, asked the court to revoke the arrest warrant that the commission had issued for Bello during Tuesday's session. She claimed that Tuesday's substituted service to Muhammad, the defendant, rendered the warrant void.

Justice must always be served by the court. Bello cannot have an arrest wa