The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has said that it received a list of 600 smuggled vehicles into Nigeria from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
Moses Oguzi, assistant commander, EFCC, made this known at BusinessDay’s annual Future of Payment and Fraud Conference 2023.
“Most of them use the money to procure expensive vehicles. Many of the cars you see on Lagos car lots do not belong to car dealers. They buy expensive vehicles and ship them down. The money is stolen in Canada, USA and UK,” Oguzi said.
According to him, most times a cyber criminal who is part of an interborder crime syndicate defraud people in other countries and we get Intel from the FBI. FBI has been able to do a preliminary investigation traced to Nigeria.
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Oguzi further said that in February 2022, the president signed into law the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) 2022. It helps in recovery of looted funds used to procure properties.
With the establishment of this Act, the EFCC will be able to recover the looted funds used in procurring vehicles.
“Once that fund is placed in an account. We approach that court for an interim forfeiture order and the court will oblige because we have been able to establish a link,” he said.
Oguzi noted that wire transfer fraud is the most common cyber fraud in Nigeria.
Meanwhile, Ade Bajomo, president Fintech NGR said that to address incessant cybercrime in Nigeria, there is need for more ethical law enforcement agents.
“The world is fast becoming intangible, criminals move ahead of law enforcement agencies, so there’s need to have more ethical law enforcement agents to catch up with them,” he said
