The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, has disclosed that the agency has traced a sum of N7 billion suspected to be proceeds of money laundering to a religious organization. Speaking at a public engagement focused on youth, religion, and the fight against corruption, as well as the launch of the fraud risk assessment project for ministries, departments, and agencies, Olukoyede revealed that the EFCC stumbled upon the N7 billion while investigating a N13 billion fraud case. He explained that the N7 billion was linked to a bank account associated with the religious organization.
During the investigation, Olukoyede mentioned that the religious organization swiftly obtained a restraining order to halt the EFCC’s scrutiny of its leaders. He stated, “When we approached the religious organisation about it and we were carrying out our investigation, we got a restraining order stopping us from carrying out our investigation.” Despite this setback, Olukoyede affirmed the commission’s determination to pursue the investigation, as they are currently in the process of appealing the restraining order in order to recover the allegedly stolen funds.
The one-day event, themed “Youth, Religion, and the Fight Against Corruption,” aimed to address the challenges of youth involvement in cybercrimes and explore how religion could be utilized as a tool for their reorientation. As part of the event, the Interfaith Preaching and Teaching Manual, developed by the Interfaith Anti-corruption Advisory Committee of the Commission, was launched as a resource to foster a disdain for corruption among adherents of Islam and Christianity. Additionally, the EFCC’s Fraud Risk Assessment Prevention and Control Project for Ministries, Departments, and Agencies was introduced at the event.
