As part of effort to deepen its effort towards restoring sanity in exchange sector, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has arrested some Bureau De Change operators across the country.
The anti graft agency in a statement noted that the arrest made in Lagos and Abuja was incidental to the Commission’s overall efforts in sanitizing the foreign exchange sector.
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The Executive Chairman of the commission, Abdulrasheed Bawa made this known on November 14, 2022, while airing his views on Nigeria Television Authority, NTA.
Bawa who was represented by the Director of Operations, Abdulkarim Chukkol was among guest to discuss the topic “Sanitizing Ungoverned Operators in the Forex Sector”.
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According to him, EFCC’s arrest of BDC operators and currency speculators in the parallel market was not indiscriminate but a product of intelligence.
“At EFCC, we work with intelligence and with other stakeholders; and when we talk of illegal forex operators you cannot just invite people on the street even though sometimes you could, but generally you do not have a choice but to make arrest.”
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He stressed that the Commission considers foreign exchange malpractice as an economic crime against the Nigerian state, adding that the Commission as far back as 2016 established a full-fledge Section known as Foreign Exchange Malpractices Section.
The Anti-Graft Agency maintained that for over ten years maintained, visible presence at all airports in the country to checkmate incidences of bulk cash movement outside Nigeria which is another aspect of this menace.
He disclosed that through the Commission’s presence at the major gateway into the country, many arrests of cash smugglers have been made and humungous sums in foreign currencies recovered.
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“Some were arrested with excess of $6 Million (Six Million United States Dollars), others with $2 Million (Two Million United States Dollars) and we know that these huge sums were not meant to be used in buying goods but stolen monies being laundered out of the country,” he said.
Chukkol further stated that EFCC not only recovered some of these monies, but secured their forfeiture to the federal government, while the culprits were prosecuted.
He emphasized the need for active inter-agency and stakeholder’s collaboration, pointing out that many of the over 6,000 registered BDCs do not belong to the Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria and therefore out of the orbit of regulators.
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“The CBN guidelines are clear regarding returns by BDCs, but how many of them do this,” he asked.
Other discussants in the programme were Director of Monitoring Policy Department of Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN Dr. Hassan Mahmud, President, Association of Bureau De Change of Change Operators of Nigeria, Dr. Aminu Gwadebe, a finance and investment analyst, Niyi Akinsuji.
