Posted by Bosede Olusola-Obasa with agency report on
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has blamed politicians and government officials for the high rate of money laundering and other financial crimes in the country.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has blamed politicians and government officials for the high rate of money laundering and other financial crimes in the country.
The Director of Operations, EFCC, Alhaji Ibrahim Lamorde, alleged that politicians, particularly state governors, were responsible for the bulk of illicit funds being transfered out of the country.
'Laundering of money is largely perpetrated by politicians the largest chunk of laundered funds are stolen money from government coffers," he alleged.
Lamorde, who was speaking at the opening of a two-day workshop on anti-money laundering organised by the UBA Plc in Lagos on Wednesday, also blamed banks for their active involvement in the perpetration of the crime.
He alleged that banks connived with politicians to stash away their stolen funds and that nearly all the cases being investigated by the EFCC showed that banks were deeply involved.
The EFCC boss said that banks aided the perpetration of money laundering and other financial malpractices through under cover banking transactions, where the identities of customers were concealed.
Lamorde said that most of the customers involved in the practice were politicians and government officials and urged banks to cooperate with the EFCC to check their activities.
'If politicians no longer have means of laundering their illegal funds, they will no longer steal," he said.
The EFCC boss, however, said that the organisation was glad that the illegal activities of these politicians were being checked through its actions.
According to him, some officials of the Fianciacial Action Task Force will be visiting the country from May 9, to check the level of the country's compliance with international standards and regulations on money laundering.
Lamorde regretted that Nigeria was one of the two countries on the FATF's list of non-compliant countries and urged all Nigerians to check their actions with a view to getting the country's name delisted soonest.
The Punch, Thursday April 13, 2006,