CBN, EFCC meet to tackle economic crimes

May bar culprits from opening bank accounts in Nigeria, Officials of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and their counterparts inthe Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) met onThursday, March 7, 2019, with the aim of strengthening the country’sfight against economic crimes.The meeting, which took place at the Head Office of the CBN in Abuja,provided an opportunity for the two entities to share experiences andpeculiar challenges in the fight against economic related crimes. The two agencies adopted strategies aimed at curtailing theunwholesome activities of economic saboteurs which include smugglingof commodities like rice, textile materials, fertilizer, wheat and otheritems on the prohibition list for accessing foreign exchange throughofficial window, as well as tracking illicit financial flows. Other areas which the two agencies are collaborating include anti-money laundry and the monitoring of politically exposed persons in thecountry. The inter-agency meeting, chaired by the Director, Governors’Department of the CBN, Mr. Jeremiah Abue, also agreed to improve thelevel of information-sharing and surveillance of the financial sector.It would be recalled that the CBN under the auspices of the Bankers’Committee had said that any individual or corporate body found tocomplicit in economic crime or attempts to circumvent economic lawsand regulations of the country may be barred from operating a bankaccount in any bank in Nigeria