LAW enforcement cooperation on money laundering between Nigeria and the United States (U.S.) seems to be on the rise in the last one year as the U.S. government disclosed that its Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) is currently working with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to break a group of money launderers, including Nigerians, using U.S. banks.
According to a U.S. government yearly report on money laundering and financial crimes, the EFCC is working with the FBI on a case involving a group of brokers laundering money through banks in the U.S.
The FBI’s cooperation with Nigerian law enforcement authorities has grown since the FBI opened an office in Nigeria after the termination of military rule in 1999.
An FBI Supervisory Special Agent, Dale Miskell, who had participated in FBI operations in Nigeria and became the first U.S. law enforcement officer to testify in a Nigerian court, recalled going on a raid with EFCC in Lagos thus: “A few years back, I got a call from our Legal AttachZ agent in Lagos. He told me that the Nigerian government was concerned by these kinds of scams and had created the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to fight them.”
He said on a regular day in Lagos, he would send an e-mail to his FBI colleagues “with the names and addresses on dubious packages. By morning I’d have an e-mail back with a list of the ones suspected of fraud. Then, we’d pay a visit to the addressee. A Nigerian officer would pose as a parcel company driver and would make the delivery and subsequent arrest, with several Nigerian officers and I in my suburban as backup.”
He disclosed that through this way, the FBI worked in Nigeria with EFCC and together made 17 arrests and seized $1 million worth of illegally purchased goods.
This time the FBI-EFCC cooperation is targeted at U.S. banks where some Nigerians are suspected to be part of a money-laundering group.
Although the official report issued recently did not give details, it is believed that some of those being investigated may have links with Nigerian public officials who are known to use long lines of relatives, friends and cronies to lodge funds looted from the public till in U.S. banks.
The U.S. report said “many of these alleged abuses of office involved politically exposed persons (PEP) and/or their collaborators.”
The U.S. report, which circulates to other government agencies including the U.S. Congress, also referred to five former Nigerian governors currently under Nigerian investigation for money laundering and implied that the FBI might be playing a role in the EFCC’s investigation of them, especially regarding the US end of such investigations.
The U.S. law enforcement authorities are reportedly familiar with several Nigerian politicians who have held public offices in the past and current office holders who have fat account balances in U.S. banks.
It is also believed that some of the on-going FBI-EFCC investigations were as a result of a surge of petitions received in previous years by the EFCC.
The U.S. government reported that petitions and leads have been provided by “whistleblowers.” There are said to be 437 of such cases, some of which include FBI cooperation that the EFCC Legal Unit is reported to be investigating for possible prosecution
The report also praised the EFCC under Nuhu Ribadu, saying the “EFCC has recorded significant successes in combating financial crimes. Through EFCC efforts, a former inspector-general of police was arrested and prosecuted for financial crimes valued at over $13 million.”
The U.S. government observed that there were still 92 other charges of money laundering against this former inspector-general of police.
The U.S. report on money laundering and financial crimes noted that the Nigerian Federal Government should strengthen its agencies responsible for supervising designated non-financial business and professions, while securing the autonomy of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the EFCC.
The American government also advised the Nigerian government to continue its cooperation with relevant international organisations “to identify and eliminate remaining anti-money laundering deficiencies.”