The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has stated that some Nigerian banks have become conduits of financial crimes.
The Commission urged the financial institutions not to make themselves available as instruments of fraud.
The EFCC chairman, Ola Olukoyede issued the warning on Friday when the management team of Moniepoint, led by its founder and Group CEO, Tosin Eniolorunda paid a courtesy visit to the commission’s headquarters in Abuja.
Speaking through his Chief of Staff, Michael Nzekwe, the EFCC boss advised Nigerian banks to turn a new leaf for the sake of the growth of the country.
“There’s hardly any financial crime that would not go through the financial institutions. Money laundering is a major issue and you find out also that the perpetrators go through the banks. Nigeria will be the greatest beneficiary when we do the right thing,” he said.
Addressing the Moniepoint delegation , Olukoyede said, “Try as much as possible on your own to avoid any form of connivance and don’t be a channel for money laundering.
“Don’t be a tool. Don’t make your system porous. You are a major stakeholder when it comes to the fight against corruption. We are open and would assist, however we can. No one is above the law,” he said.
Olukoyede observed that there was a high level of poor internal control by fintechs at the level of the unbanked, the under-served and the middle class population spectrum.
He said, “There’s quite a whole lot of fraud that goes around that particular level, so the issue of KYC (Know Your Customer) is very important, especially because of the issue of how fintechs open tier-one accounts, sometimes without attention to KYC.
“And people take advantage of this and are quick to commit fraud through this negligence. So, that’s one area you have to also look at to see how you can improve on your KYC.
“Increasing your level of collaboration with the EFCC would mean to see yourselves as stakeholders in the fight against corruption.
“We would like you to be able to respond to us when we make inquiries and when we make requests.”
