The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has said that it has discovered new money laundering techniques by criminals involving purchase of cars, jewelries and real estate development, to cover their ill gotten money.
The criminals, according to the agency get funds from wide range of sources, including kidnappings, banditry, armed robbery, contract frauds and other forms of criminal activities.
Chairman of the EFCC, Abdulrasheed Bawa, while speaking at the ministerial briefing organized by the Presidential Communication Team at the presidential villa, Abuja on Thursday, said the commission is working to strengthen its Special Control Unit against Money Laundering (SCUML) with the belief that checkmating the activities of non-designated financial institutions would reduce the cases of money such crimes in the country, Business Day is reporting.
According to him, “SCUML that is being managed by the EFCC as well as the ministry of trade and investment is expected to do similar thing but this time on the non-designated financial institutions. We are talking about the car dealers, the jewelry dealers and real estate etc.
“If we can checkmate the problems associated with real estate laundering of proceeds of crimes in this country will reduce. It is on that thinking that we are working on strengthening this special control unit through the national assembly against money laundering.”
The EFCC Chairman said the anti-graft agency has established a new intelligence unit which is assisting in unraveling new criminal activities
“Since I came on board, we have embarked on the restructuring of the agency, one of the key thing I succeeded in doing is the creation of the department of intelligence, this is based on our resolved to Nigerians that going forward, our investigation is going to be intelligence based.
“Since the creation of the department, we have received meaningful intelligence, just last week, they sent a report of certain government that has taken money out of the treasury of the state government in cash, over a period of time amounting to over N6b which is a useful thing, that we are using to investigate that aspect”
Bawa while also clarifying his position on the Minister fingered over purchase of $37.5m property, said the crime did not happen under the current administration.
He also clarified his statement concerning the involvement of the minister in the laundering of about $37 million into real estate, saying that it is the case of former minister of Petroleum, Diezani Madueke.