PRIOR to the 2023 elections, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has announced that it will expand its war against money laundering to include Politicians, lawyers, accountants and other designated non-financial businesses and professions (DNFBPS).
The Commission’s Chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa, made this statement yesterday at a workshop on financial crimes reporting that the Commission organized for a few selected journalists in Lagos.
Bawa said the commission was stepping up its investigations of the DNFBPS through its Special Control Unit Against Money Laundering (SCUML) under the newly enacted Money Laundering Prohibition and Prevention Act, 2022.
”There are certain provisions of this new law that I believe will affect you directly or indirectly. One is the secrecy of financial transactions. The new law criminalizes the operations of numbered accounts and also mandates financial institutions to ascertain the beneficial owners of accounts before opening such accounts.
”There is a more robust requirement for due diligence and reporting obligation by financial institutions and non-financial businesses and professions to the SCUML,” he added.
Bawa stated that the panel was also shining its searchlight on specific politicians ahead of the 2023 national elections.
Additionally, he stated that the commission was interested in the operations of some real estate agents, construction firms, car dealers, precious stone dealers, and other professionals because investigations had revealed that they had turned into gatekeepers for money laundering.
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