From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said its intelligence unit has unearthed the movement of N6 billion from an unnamed state government coffers.
Chairman of the Commission, Abdulrasheed Bawa, who made the disclosure while fielding questions from journalists, yesterday, at a ministerial briefing, organised by the Presidential Communication Team at the presidential villa, Abuja, said the finding was possible because of the determination of the agency to restructure for more efficiency.
He said: “Since I came on board, we have embarked on the restructuring of the agency, one of the key things I succeeded in doing is the creation of the department of intelligence. This is based on our resolve 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 a certain government that has taken money out of the treasury of the state government in cash, over a period of time amounting to over N6 billion, which is a useful thing that we are using to investigate that aspect.”
He disclosed that the unit is assisting the agency in prosecuting cases by forwarding findings to other departments, including the operations department.
On the recent recoveries made by the commission, he said it included N6 billion, over $161 million, over £13,000, €1,730, 200 Canadian dollars, CFA 373,000 and ¥8,430.
Bawa disclosed that the commission was set to go after jewellery dealers and real estate developers who may be serving as conduits for money laundering.
He said the anti-crime agency was working to strengthen its Special Control Unit against Money Laundering (SCUML), in order to checkmate the activities of non-designated financial institutions.
He also revealed that the commission was set to prosecute 800 cases in various courts across the country with the majority of them linked to internet fraudsters.