By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has forwarded a list of at least 600 cars illegally brought into Nigeria, anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) says, as it confirms receipt of the list.
“Most of them use the money to procure expensive vehicles. Many of the cars you see on Lagos car lots do not belong to car dealers. They buy expensive vehicles and ship them down. The money is stolen in Canada, USA and UK,” the Commission’s assistant commander, Moses Oguzi said at the “Future of Payment and Fraud” conference 2023 organised by BusinessDay.
The EFCC’s assistant commander revealed that a cyber criminal who is part of an interborder crime syndicate defraud people in other countries and the commission gets Intel from the FBI. “FBI has been able to do a preliminary investigation traced to Nigeria”, he stated.
Oguzi said the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) 2022 signed into law in February 2022 by President Muhammadu Buhari has helped in recovery of looted funds used to procure properties.
“Once that fund is placed in an account. We approach that court for an interim forfeiture order and the court will oblige because we have been able to establish a link,” he said.
Oguzi noted that wire transfer fraud is the most common cyber fraud in Nigeria.
The president Fintech NGR, Ade Bajomo in his remarks said there is need for more ethical law enforcement agents in order to address incessant cybercrime in Nigeria.
“The world is fast becoming intangible, criminals move ahead of law enforcement agencies, so there’s need to have more ethical law enforcement agents to catch up with them,” he said
