EFCC freezes more than 300 accounts over suspicious forex flows

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has frozen over 300 accounts over suspicious forex flows.

The EFCC chairman, Ola Olukoyede, who stated this on Tuesday said the agency discovered a new financial scheme that poses a significant threat to the stability of the foreign exchange market.

According to Olukoyede, the scheme, known as the “P to P” peer-to-peer financial trading scheme, operates outside the official banking and financial channels.

He stated that this illicit activity could have disastrous consequences for the Naira’s value, which has been steadily rising.

In response to this new threat, the EFCC has taken decisive action by freezing approximately 300 accounts associated with the scheme.

He stressed the urgency of addressing the issue, stating that over $15billion has passed through one of these platforms in the past year alone, circumventing financial regulations.

Olukoyede also compared the severity of this new scheme to that of the crypto trading platform Binance, indicating that some individuals in Nigeria engaged in activities that were even more detrimental to the country’s financial stability.

He added that the EFCC is committed to safeguarding Nigeria’s financial system’s integrity and protecting Naira’s value.

In recent months, the Nigerian government has heightened its crackdown on Binance. Anjarwalla was one of the cryptocurrency chiefs arrested in the wake of the tussle.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had claimed that over $26bn was channelled through Binance without a trace.

“In the last year,” CBN governor Yemi Cardoso said, “more than $26 billion have been funnelled through Binance without trace”.