Friday, July 11, 2025 - The chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, says crooked politicians and fraudsters are increasingly hiding their proceeds from criminal activities in cryptocurrencies to evade detection.
Speaking at an event to mark Africa Anti-Corruption Day in
Abuja on Tuesday July 10, Olukoyede described virtual assets fraud and dubious
investment schemes as fast-emerging threats that could soon outpace traditional
money laundering in Africa.
Represented by the Kaduna Acting Zonal Director of the
Commission, Bawa Usman Kaltungo, the EFCC boss lamented that the continent
continues to suffer staggering losses running into billions of dollars annually
through illicit financial flows, with money laundering still topping the chart.
However, he warned that virtual assets fraud is now rapidly taking centre
stage.
“Another
rising criminal engagement that has the potential to outpace even money
laundering is virtual assets and investment scams,” Olukoyede said
He explained that virtual assets from cryptocurrencies to
digital tokens built on blockchain are not inherently illegal. But he warned
that technology’s dizzying pace has also given criminals fresh avenues to
divert and conceal stolen wealth
“Fraudulent
politicians are already perfecting schemes and hiding their loot in
cryptocurrencies to beat the investigative dragnets of anti-corruption
agencies. Stolen funds and unexplained wealth are being warehoused in wallets,
and payments for services are being routed through this channel.”
The EFCC boss further linked the boom in digital assets
misuse to the surge in shady investment platforms that promise mouth-watering
returns but end up defrauding unsuspecting Nigerians.
He assured Nigerians that the Commission is not
daunted.
“Virtual
assets fraud and investment scam are not hard nuts to crack. Our proactive,
broad-based training and intelligence are already exposing these schemes. We
have enormous proofs of operational successes, especially our breakthrough in
the investigation and prosecution of the infamous CBEX scam.”he said
Olukoyede decried how investment fraud including Ponzi
schemes is spreading like wildfire across Africa, exploiting desperate
investors and deepening economic misery. “Every exploitation of investors in
any guise is considered a fraudulent act,” he insisted.
“Many
victims of CBEX might have avoided losses if they had done proper checks.
Investors hardly file suspicious transaction reports to the EFCC until after
they are defrauded,” he said. “No investment scam can succeed without the
negligence of investors.”he said
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