Fraud: EFCC Vows to Prosecute Nigerian Banks and Top Officials

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has vowed to purge the banking sector of illegal activities by enforcing the financial laws of the country and freeing it of fraud.

The Executive Chairman of the Anti-graft agency, Ola Olukoyede, made this pledge on Tuesday while speaking at the 17th Annual Banking and Finance Conference of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) in Abuja.

A statement by the Commission’s Head Media and Publicity, Dele Oyewale, revealed the Chairman taking a zero-tolerance stance on financial fraud.

The Chairman promised to partner with the CIBN to cleanse the financial services sector of these practices.

Olukoyede noted that erring top officials of the banking and financial sector will come under the hammer and that stiff sanctions will be handed down to banks found guilty.

“I make bold to tell you with every sense of humility that we are no longer folding our arms. As a matter of fact, some of the mind-boggling, major financial frauds and onslaught that have been carried out against the economy ran through the banking industry,” he began

“We are committed to working with the institute in sanitizing the financial services sector through robust enforcement of our financial laws and insulating it from impact from criminals both from within and from without,” he said.

“In as much as we are ready to work with you to sanitize the system, we must also note that it is extremely important to state that when there are criminal infractions, penal sanctions will follow. We have compiled our documents; we have made the necessary investigations, we have concluded and very soon you will see some banks and top officials prosecuted.

“We need to just do something drastic to bring everybody in line. To do the right thing is extremely important. In a system where there are no penal sanctions for criminal infractions, that system will never survive.

“From our experience with the investigation of financial crimes involving members of the banking profession, there is gross contempt for regulations that border on impunity. Operators secretly devise means to circumvent regulations and rules in a desperate bid for higher yields.

“Sharp practices such as forex round-tripping, defrauding of investors through phantom charges and complicity in money laundering and illicit financial flow involving politically exposed persons continue to undermine the integrity of the sector and by extension the nation’s economy.

“Look at yourselves in the mirror and leave this place with renewed commitment to professionalism and determination to provide services that will assist the growth and development of the Nigerian economy,” Olukoyede stated.