The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has offered whistleblowers up to five per cent of recovered assets for actionable information leading to the recovery of funds and properties allegedly stashed abroad by corrupt Nigerians.
Olukoyede urged individuals with credible information on the location of Nigerian assets suspected to be proceeds of corruption anywhere in the world to approach the commission, promising financial incentives upon successful recovery.
In a statement on Wednesday, EFFC spokesman Dele Oyewale said the commission’s chairman, Ola Olukoyede, disclosed this while delivering a lecture at the 43rd International Symposium on Economic Crime in Cambridge, United Kingdom.
“I welcome all of you to the world of whistleblowing. If any one of you is privy to where Nigerian assets are stolen or taken to anywhere in the world, we have an incentive for you; between 2.5 per cent and 5 per cent, it’s going to go back to you upon recovery.
“That is an incentive we have put in place to encourage people to come forward to give information about stolen assets,” he was quoted as saying.
The EFCC chairman said the reward could turn credible whistleblowers into millionaires, depending on the value of assets recovered from the information supplied.
“You never know if you give any information here, some of you may leave this place, multi-millionaire in your lifetime,” Olukoyede said, drawing applause from participants.
He said the initiative was aimed at strengthening the commission’s access to credible intelligence in tracing assets moved out of Nigeria through illicit means.
Olukoyede disclosed that the EFCC had recovered and secured the forfeiture of cash and assets worth more than $500m for the Federal Government within the first three years of his administration.
“Within three years of my assumption of office, we’ve been able to forfeit both cash and assets worth over half a billion dollars to the government,” he said.
He attributed the recoveries to the resourcefulness and professionalism of EFCC investigators, a vibrant judiciary and access to credible intelligence.
The anti-graft agency chairman also highlighted Nigeria’s non-conviction-based asset forfeiture framework, which he said enabled the commission to pursue suspected proceeds of crime without necessarily waiting for a criminal conviction.
According to him, the framework is similar to approaches used in countries, including Australia and Canada.
“We have something similar to what is obtainable in Australia and Canada that empowers us to apply the forfeiture to proceeds of what is suspected to be proceeds of crime,” he said.
Olukoyede said the mechanism had enabled the government to secure the forfeiture of assets including an aircraft, a university, estates and houses suspected to have been acquired with proceeds of crime.
He cited the recovery of 752 housing units linked to former Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Godwin Emefiele, as well as an ongoing investigation involving former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN).
He said the investigation into Malami’s assets led to the forfeiture of 48 properties out of 57 properties allegedly traced to him.
“Sometimes last year, I opened investigations upon reasonable suspicion of criminal abuse of office by the immediate past Attorney-General of Nigeria.
“We discovered that within eight years of his being in office, we were able to trace about 57 such properties to him. We’ve been able to forfeit about 48,” he said.
The 43rd International Symposium on Economic Crime, which is being held in Cambridge, brings together anti-corruption experts and practitioners from different parts of the world.
Olukoyede’s presentation was delivered on the third day of the week-long symposium.
Source: punchng.com
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