- This call was made during a meeting with bank compliance officers in Oyo State
The Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Olanipekun Olukoyede, urged compliance officers of banks nationwide to refrain from disclosing EFCC’s investigation activities and requests from banks to customers without authorization.
Olukoyede, expressed concern over the detrimental support fraudsters receive from Nigeria’s banking sector, stressing the challenges it presents to the commission.
This call was made via the Acting Zonal Director of the Ibadan Zonal Command, Hauwa Ringim, during a meeting with bank compliance officers in Oyo State, as conveyed by Head of Media and Publicity, Dele Oyewale, in a statement issued in Ibadan, Oyo State.
He said, “The EFCC is aware of the fact that compliance officers give information to their clients regarding ‘letters of investigation activities’ written to the banks from the EFCC.
“The act usually jeopardises the investigation exercise of financial crimes and delays corruption cases from being filed before the law court.”
Olukoyede also urged them to always respond to letters received from the Commission with certified true copies including instruments of transactions of beneficiaries or sources, as this will expedite the processes of investigation to a logical conclusion.
The EFCC boss said illegal dealings and trading in naira with the Point-of-Sale operators must stop.
“What we notice and see around lately is that Nigerians can only withdraw a small amount of their money with the banks in Automated Teller Machine but POS operators evidently go around with huge amounts of money gotten from the banks. This is not fair to Nigerians and we must fight it head-on,” he added.
He assured the compliance officers of the commission’s support at all times, as “they remain relevant stakeholders in the fight against economic and financial crimes.”