The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has intensified its efforts to prevent financial crimes by moving to freeze suspicious funds within 72 hours of detecting unusual transactions.
EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, disclosed this on Monday in Abuja during a media interaction organised to mark his third year in office.
Olukoyede said the commission was moving away from a reactive approach to financial crime investigations and was increasingly focusing on early detection, intervention and asset recovery.
He explained that the EFCC had established the Fraud Risk Assessment and Control Department (FRAC) to monitor questionable financial transactions and respond quickly when suspicious movements are identified.
According to him, the new approach is designed to prevent stolen funds from being moved beyond the reach of investigators.
The EFCC chairman cited cases in which money allegedly transferred from local government accounts was moved through companies before being converted into cryptocurrency and transferred to digital wallets.
He said some public officials were now able to move allegedly misappropriated funds into cryptocurrency wallets within a short period, sometimes using younger intermediaries to conceal the movement of the money.
Olukoyede noted that the growing use of digital assets had created additional challenges for investigators because funds could be moved rapidly without being connected to easily identifiable physical assets.
However, he said the situation was improving as Nigeria’s regulatory framework for virtual assets develops.
He disclosed that about 40 virtual asset platforms had been licensed in the country, giving law enforcement agencies greater capacity to trace transactions involving registered cryptocurrency wallets.
The EFCC chairman also revealed that the Federal Government had approved the creation of a national confiscation wallet where cryptocurrencies seized during investigations could be securely held.
He said the arrangement had addressed one of the challenges previously faced by the commission regarding the storage and management of recovered virtual assets.
On asset recovery, Olukoyede said the EFCC was also making use of civil forfeiture procedures under Section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud Act.
He explained that the process could allow the commission to pursue assets directly rather than waiting for criminal trials that could take several years.
According to him, the approach is intended to prevent the dissipation of assets while legal proceedings are ongoing.
Olukoyede further explained that professionals were appointed to manage different categories of recovered assets in accordance with the Proceeds of Crime Act 2022.
He said specialists were engaged depending on the nature of the assets, while a dedicated Process and Proceeds Management directorate had been established to coordinate their administration.
The EFCC chairman said the commission had also begun taking steps to prevent forfeited assets from losing value while court cases were pending, with proceeds from certain disposals being kept in escrow accounts until final judicial decisions.
He cited recently forfeited hotels in Lagos as an example, saying new managers had been appointed while banks were instructed to remit income and proceeds from the properties to the commission.
Olukoyede stressed that tackling corruption and financial crimes required more than investigations and arrests.
He called for stronger policies and institutional reforms capable of preventing loopholes through which public funds could be stolen or diverted.
He also urged the media and civil society organisations to strengthen their watchdog roles and continue to hold institutions and public officials accountable in the fight against corruption.
