The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, has revealed that the anti-graft agency has uncovered a trail of N7 billion suspected to be proceeds of money laundering linked to a religious organisation, News About Nigeria reports.
This revelation was made during a public engagement on youth, religion, and the fight against corruption, which also marked the launch of the fraud risk assessment project for ministries, departments, and agencies.
Olukoyede said that the discovery was part of an ongoing investigation into a N13 billion fraud case.
According to him, it was found that N7 billion of the N13 billion was connected to a bank account associated with a religious body following a probe into the account.
“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,” stated Olukoyede.
However, the religious organisation obtained a restraining order, preventing the EFCC from proceeding with its investigation into the matter.
Despite this, Olukoyede stated that the commission is committed to pursuing the case and recovering the allegedly misappropriated funds.
“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,” he added.
The EFCC chairman added that the commission would appeal the restraining order.
The public engagement, themed ‘Youth, Religion, and the Fight Against Corruption’, focused on addressing the challenges of youth involvement in cybercrimes and exploring the potential of religion as a tool for their reorientation.
The event also marked the launch of the Interfaith Preaching and Teaching Manual, developed by the Interfaith Anti-Corruption Advisory Committee of the Commission.
In addition, the EFCC’s Fraud Risk Assessment Prevention and Control Project for Ministries, Departments, and Agencies was officially launched during the event.
