Why We Raided, Arrested Some BDC Operators – EFCC

Why We Raided, Arrested Some BDC Operators – EFCC

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has stated that it has arrested some bureau de change operators across the country, particularly in Lagos and Abuja, in order to clean up the foreign exchange sector.

Abdulrasheed Bawa, Chairman of the EFCC, stated this during a television program about “sanitizing ungoverned operators in the forex sector.”

The EFCC’s spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren, said in a statement on Tuesday that Bawa was represented by the Commission’s Director of Operations, Abdulkarim Chukkol.

According to him, the EFCC’s arrests of BDC operators and currency speculators in the parallel market were not indiscriminate, but rather the result of intelligence.

In his words: “At the EFCC, we work with intelligence and with other stakeholders; and when we talk of illegal forex operators, you cannot just invite people on the street, even though sometimes you could, but generally you do not have a choice but to make an arrest.”

He emphasized that the Commission regards foreign exchange malpractice as an economic crime against the Nigerian state, adding that the Commission established a full-fledged section known as the Foreign Exchange Malpractices Section in 2016 and has maintained a visible “presence at all airports in the country to checkmate incidences of bulk cash movement outside Nigeria, which is another aspect of this menace” for over ten years.

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He stated that because of the Commission’s presence at the country’s main entry point, many cash smugglers have been apprehended and large sums of foreign currency have been recovered.

“Some were arrested with an excess of $6 Million (Six Million United States Dollars), others with $2 Million (Two Million United States Dollars) and we know that these huge sums were not meant to be used in buying goods but stolen monies being laundered out of the country,” he said

Bawa added that while the offenders were being brought to justice, the EFCC not only recovered some of these funds but also successfully obtained their forfeiture to the federal government.

He stressed the necessity of active inter-agency and stakeholder collaboration, pointing out that many of the more than 6,000 registered BDCs do not belong to the Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria and are thus outside the purview of regulators.

“The CBN guidelines are clear regarding returns by BDCs, but how many of them do this,” he asked.

In the meantime, Mustapha Muhammed alias Muaspaha Naira has been detained by the commission as part of its continuous effort to purge the foreign exchange industry of speculators and all other types of economic saboteurs, according to Uwujaren.

“He was picked up by operatives of the Commission on Saturday, November 12, 2022, at Wuse Zone 4, the hub of parallel market operations in the Federal Capital Territory.

“The suspect has made useful statements while the investigation continues,” Uwujaren stated.

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