EFCC gets lists of 600 vehicles smuggled into Nigeria from FBI

According to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), it received a list of 600 smuggled vehicles into Nigeria from the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI).

EFCC’s Moses Oguzi revealed this at a recent event in Lagos.

BusinessDay reports that Oguzi said most fraudsters use money obtained from crime or fraud to buy expensive vehicles, saying that many cars on car lots do not belong to car dealers. They buy expensive cars and ship them down.

He said the funds were stolen in Canada, the US, and the UK. Most cybercriminals in an inter-border crime syndicate defraud people in other countries. The EFCC receives intel from the FBI and begins a preliminary investigation traced to Nigeria.

He said President Muhammadu Buhari, on February 2022, signed the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) 2022 to help recover looted funds used to purchase properties.

The Act enables the EFCC to recover the looted funds used in procuring vehicles, Oguzi said. With the establishment of this Act, the EFCC will be able to recover the looted funds used in procuring vehicles.

Oguzi said: “Once that fund is placed in an account. We approach that court for an interim forfeiture order, and the court will oblige because we have been able to establish a link.”

Oguzi noted that the most common fraud in Nigeria is wire fraud which is common among cybercriminals.