EFCC chairman Olukoyede claims Nigerian politicians now using cryptocurrency to hide stolen public funds

The chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, has claimed that corrupt politicians are increasingly using cryptocurrencies and other virtual assets to conceal illicit wealth and evade detection.

Olukoyede, represented by the Commission’s Zonal Director, Hanafi Sa’ad, disclosed this while speaking at an event commemorating Africa Anti-Corruption Day in Gombe State

According to him, some politically exposed persons are increasingly turning to digital assets as a means of evading detection by anti-corruption agencies.

“These flows are coming from diverse criminal activities, with money laundering ranking as the highest,” he said.

“Another rising criminal engagement that has the potential to outpace even money laundering on the continent is virtual assets and investment scams.”

Olukoyede said that while virtual assets such as cryptocurrencies and digital tokens are not inherently criminal, they are being exploited by fraudsters to store and move stolen funds under the radar of law enforcement agencies.

“Our findings showed that fraudulent politicians are already perfecting schemes and hiding their loot in cryptocurrencies to beat the investigative dragnets of anti-corruption agencies,” he said.

“Stolen funds and unexplained wealth are being warehoused in wallets, and payments for services are being done through this window.”

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Despite the evolving complexity of digital crimes, Olukoyede assured Nigerians that the EFCC is fully equipped to tackle such threats.

“For us at the EFCC, virtual assets fraud and investment scam are not hard nuts to crack. Proactive and broad-based training and intelligence are bringing fraudulent schemes to the fore,” he declared.

He cited the recent CBEX scam as a notable example of the Commission’s operational success in combating such fraud.

“There are enormous proofs of operational successes in this regard, especially the breakthrough in investigation and prosecution of the infamous CBEX scam,” Olukoyede noted.

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The EFCC boss also expressed concerns over the alarming spread of investment fraud across Africa, particularly the rise of Ponzi schemes targeting desperate investors.

“Investment fraud, like virtual assets fraud, is spreading like wildfire across Africa. Fraudsters are exploiting vulnerabilities of desperate investors through various dishonest schemes,” he said, adding that, “Ponzi schemes rank as one of the most pervasive of such acts.”

Olukoyede urged the public to take greater responsibility by conducting due diligence before investing and reporting suspicious activities promptly.

“The investing public do inadvertently aid fraudulent practices through lack of due diligence on schemes advertised to them

“Another lesson is that investors hardly send suspicious transaction reports to the EFCC until they are defrauded,” he stated.

He emphasised that most investment scams thrive due to investor negligence, calling on Nigerians to educate themselves about financial risks and digital assets.

“No investment scam can succeed without the negligence of investors.

“Virtual assets and investment fraud, like other fraudulent activities, are preventable. The escape route is adequate knowledge and understanding of issues involved,” he warned