Chairman
of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Ibrahim Lamorde says
property acquisitions in Abuja
has become avenues for money laundering by unscrupulous persons. He said
evidence of the trend is the number of palatial but unoccupied houses that dot
the Abuja
landscape.
The
EFCC boss who was speaking during a courtesy visit to the Minister of the Federal Capital
Territory, Senator Bala Mohammed in Abuja on Thursday,
January 9, stated that the Commission had uncovered money laundering schemes in
the FCT in which the perpetrators disguise the proceeds of crime by investing
in properties. He explained that those involved in this nefarious act do not
purchase properties with bank instrument but prefer to pay for their
acquisition with cash.
He
further revealed that the laundered funds are frequently converted into foreign
currencies through the Bureau de Change before the purchases are made.
He noted that such persons do not bother to change ownership after
such acquisitions, making it difficult to verify the identities of the new
owners or the sources of fund.
He disclosed that over 270 cases of land scam were reported to the
Commission in the last 3 years.
Lamorde noted that the Commission suspected insider abuse in some
of the cases investigated and called on the minister to be prepared to initiate
disciplinary action against erring officers.
In his response,
the minister thanked the EFCC chairman for the
visit and commended the Commission for its effort to stamp out corruption in
the FCT. “Without anti corruption agencies like the EFCC, ICPC, I am not sure
how the FCT would have been ranked and so we will continue to give the
commission support in order to build a vibrant relationship where it won’t be
business as usual,” he said.
Senator Mohammed disclosed that the commission has supported the
FCTA in terms of arresting the scourge of corruption and leakages in the FCT
especially on land premiums. He said the most brazen of the vices was land
fraud and that the EFCC has assisted by arresting and prosecuting those
involved.
According to the
FCT minister, “it is sad that the capital territory
as a jurisdiction is used as a citadel of corruption and also for perpetuating
acts of corruption, people from the states and local government illegally
acquire money and come to get it hidden in the FCT through acquisition of
properties that are not registered and that is a big concern because it is
depriving the FCT of the revenue needed and increasing corruption in the
Capital Territory. It is also increasing security challenges because most of
the houses acquired are left vacant and we have no means of knowing who owns
them”, he said.
The minister disclosed that the FCTA was working with the Abuja
Geographical Information System, AGIS to upgrade their system in such a manner
that it would be difficult for anybody to impersonate, manipulate or forge land
documents. He however lamented that some former employees of the authority were
duping unsuspecting but desperate members of the public while posing as staff
of the FCTA.
The EFCC chairman was accompanied on the visit by senior
management staff of the agency including the Director, Organisational Support,
Mr Bolaji Salami; Director of Operations, Mr Olaolu Adegbite; Director of Legal
and Prosecution, Mr Chile Okoroma and Deputy Director, Public Affairs, Mr.
Osita Nwajah.
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