The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ola Olukoyede, has stated that the anti-graft agency discovered how a religious sect in Nigeria launders money for terrorists.
This came as he revealed that another religious entity was discovered to be supporting a money launderer after some money suspected of being laundered was tracked to the organization’s bank accounts.
During a public engagement 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 stated that the EFCC was investigating an N13 billion fraud case when it discovered that N7 billion of the N13 billion was linked to a religious body’s bank account.
He mentioned that religious groups, institutions, sects, and bodies had been found guilty of money laundering.
Olukoyede said, “A religious sect in this country is laundering money for terrorists.”
He, however, noted that the religious organization quickly obtained a restraining order to prevent the EFCC from probing its leaders.
“We were able to trace some laundered money to a religious organization, and when we approached the religious organization about it and we were carrying out our investigation, we got a restraining order stopping us from carrying out our investigation,” he said.
The EFCC boss further stated that the commission will not give up on the investigation as it is appealing the restraining order to recover the stolen funds.
The one-day seminar aims to address the issues surrounding young involvement in cybercrime and how religion can be used as a tool for reorientation.
The event, themed “Youth, Religion, and the Fight Against Corruption,” featured the launch of the Interfaith Preaching and Teaching Manual developed by the Interfaith Anti-Corruption Advisory Committee of the Commission as a resource to promote abhorrence for corruption among adherents of Islam and Christianity.
The EFCC‘s Fraud Risk Assessment Prevention and Control Project for Ministries, Departments, and Agencies was also introduced during the event.
