News
Resolve Face-Off, Cleric Tells Presidency, Senate
The Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, Most Rev. Alfred Adewale Martins, yesterday pleaded with the Presidency and the Senate to consider the interest of the citizenry and resolve the current face-off between them.
Martins made the appeal when he spoke to journalists in Lagos after inaugurating St. Joseph’s Medical Centre and a guest building built by parishioner s of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, Gowon Estate, Egbeda.
Prior to inaugurating the projects worth N77 million, he administered the sacrament of Confirmation on 785 youths from the Ipaja Deanery.
Confirmation, he said, made recipients soldiers of Christ, ever-ready to preach the gospel to any end of the earth and always work in God’s vineyard.
Martins said that the misunderstanding between both arms of government was uncalled for and could distort the growth of the already dwindling economy and the nation at large.
NAN reports that the sour relationship between the two bodies followed the Senators’ demand that the Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mr Ibrahim Magu, be sacked and the presidency not meeting that request.
The development has resulted in the legislators suspending for two weeks the screening of 27 nominees for appointment as Resident Electoral Commission (RECs) by President Muhammadu Buhari.
While some backed the lawmakers and wonder why the president was insisting on Magu being the Chairman of EFCC, others supported the presidency and blamed the lawmakers.
Similarly, others called for immediate resolution of the misunderstanding with the fear that it portends danger for the country.
“Indeed the present face-off that we can see here is certainly not helping the good of the nation. People are suffering all kinds of deprivations, our people are having all kinds of difficulties, more than ever before, we are having people frustrated so much as to commit suicide.
“This is becoming more and more prevalent among us, and therefore, one expects that they will bring all their energies together in order that it will improve on the economy, in order to improve on the welfare of the people.
“So, we just want to continue to ask them not to forget that they have a duty to serve the people given to them by God, because God is the source of all power if they occupy that position today, it’s because God willed it and they are going to give account one day,’’ he said.
“Therefore, they should do it with the best of intentions and with the best of desires, one thing that is important is to say is that whatever the case may be, the common good, the good of the people ought to be the primary factor in the relationship between every arm of government.
“If the senate is doing its work purely for common good not because of some selfish reason, or in retaliation for what it sees another arm of government has done, then whatever he is doing must be good.
“But if it’s in retaliation for whatever another arm of government has done or with not a good clear conscience, then obviously
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has indicted a new generation bank, six Fintechs and some microfinance banks in major financial scams by allowing fraudsters to launder huge sums of money.
Director of public Affairs of the Commission, Mr Wilson Uwujaren, made this known at a press briefing at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja, yesterday.
According to him, the compromised institutions allegedly allowed cryptocurrency transactions worth N162 billion to pass through without proper due diligence within the 2024/2025 financial year.
He said that the financial institutions clearly compromised banking procedures and allowed the fraudsters to safely change their ill-gotten gains into digital assets and move them to safe destinations.
“A total sum of N18.1 billion was moved through the financial system without due diligence of customers by the banks.
“It is worrisome that investigations by the commission showed that cryptocurrency transactions to the tune of N162 billion passed through a new generation bank without any due diligence.
“Investigations showed that a single customer maintained 960 accounts in another new bank and all the accounts were used for fraudulent purposes.
“That is bad news but the good news is that following our intervention the commission has been able to recover N33.62 million, which has been returned to some of the victims.”
He explained that the scams were in two categories, adding that the first was a syndicate of fraudsters that employed an airline discount scheme to lure their victims.
He said that they advertised a discount system for the purchase of flight tickets of a particular foreign carrier.
“The payment module is designed in such a way that the victims’ payment is actually made into the account of the airline.
“After payment is made the passenger’s entire funds in his bank account are emptied.
“Investigations showed that more than 700 victims have been scammed so far, with a loss of N651 million,” he said.
According to him, investigations show that the scheme is being masterminded by a foreign national; the commission has so far recovered and released N33 million to victims of the fraud.
He said that another scheme involved a company named Fred and Farid Investment Limited, simply called FF investment, which lured Nigerians into a bogus investment arrangement.
“More than 200, 000 victims have been defrauded in this regard. A total sum of N18 billion was raked in through nine companies offering diverse investment packages.
“The companies are: Credio Banco Limited; Deliberty Rock Limited; Liam Chumeks Global Service; Ngwuoke Daniels Technology; and Icons Autos and Import Merchant.
“Others are : Newpace Technology Services Limited, Primepath Ways Ventures Limited, Kaka Synergy Network Limited and Sunlight Tech Hub Services Limited.”
He said that foreign nationals were behind the schemes, while there are three Nigerian accomplices who have been arrested and charged to court.
He said that the masterminds were on the run and efforts are being made to bring them to book.
“The Commission is calling on regulatory bodies to bring financial institutions to compulsory compliance with regulations in the areas of Know Your Customers (KYC), Customer Due Diligence (CDD), Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs) and others.
“Deposit Money Banks, Fintechs, Micro Finance Banks found to be aiding and abetting fraudsters should be suspended and referred to the EFCC for thorough investigation and possible prosecution.
“Negligence and failure to monitor suspicious and structured transactions by banks should no longer be allowed,” he said.
While cautioning members of the public to be wary of these actors, he said that the EFCC would continue its works against money laundering by fraudulent actors.
Uwujaren urged financial institutions to firm up their operational dynamics and save the nation leakages and compromises bleeding the economy.
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