Acting Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu, has warned employees of financial institutions in the country to guard against any act of complicity with looters of the nation’s commonwealth saying, “negligence is not an excuse in law”. Magu gave the charge on Wednesday, August 21, 2019 ,while playing host to trainees from Ecobank Nigeria Plc on a visit to the Lagos office of the Commission. The anti-graft czar, who spoke through the Head of Cybercrimes, EFCC, Lagos office, Dein Whyte, further emphasised the need for financial institutions to know their customers very well, adding that “the identities and addresses of your customers must always be updated so as not to be blind-folded, especially in situations that result to criminal matters”.
He said “It is also important to know the Money Laundering Act and the laws governing all financial institutions. “Money laundering is making dirty money look clean and it can be done through different ways but mostly through banks.”
The EFCC boss urged the trainees to always watch out for red flags and report all suspicious transactions.
“Don’t allow pressure of work to prevent you from carrying out due diligence on your assigned tasks; stick to the rules, be professional; let the laws and rules guide you; try not to be an accessory to crime by not doing the needful and have an eye for details”, he said.