Money Laundering: Popular Nigerian Church Lands In Big Trouble Over N7Billion Fraud
The sum of N7 billion suspected to be proceeds of money laundering has been traced to a religious organisation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede made this known on Wednesday at the Musa Yar’Adua Centre, Abuja, during a one-day dialogue on “Youth, Religion, and the Fight against Corruption.”
He noted that another religious group was found to be laundering money for terrorists.
He explained that the EFCC discovered the laundered N7 billion in the bank account of a religious organisation in the course of investigating a N13 billion fraud.
The EFCC boss asserted that some of the religious organisations, institutions, sects, and bodies in the country were aiding and abetting fraudsters and terrorists.
He said, “We were investigating a N13 billion money laundering case when we discovered that N7 billion of the N13 billion was linked to a religious organisation’s bank account.
“When we approached the religious organisation about it and we were carrying out our investigation, we got a restraining order stopping us from carrying out our investigation.”
“No one will be spared, we’ll probe everyone who is suspected to be committing financial crimes, and these include members of the executive, legislative, and judiciary arms of government,” Olukoyede added.
However, a source in the anti-agency privy to the case said that the religious body was a church.
Olukoyede said since his assumption of office as the EFCC chairman about three months ago, the anti-graft agency had secured 747 convictions, mostly cybercrime.
