Anti -money laundering: NFIU partners NDLEA

By Emeka Ibemere

With the high rising wave of sophisticated and organized criminal groups and syndicates operating globally and the need to stifle their network of operations in Nigeria, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), have met to synergies the level of operation of the two agencies, in the fight against money laundering activities.

Last weekend, at the NDLEA‘s National Headquarters, Lagos, both agencies met to deepen modalities for intelligence sharing in the fight against money laundering.

Not only that, the visit by the NFIU’s technical working group availed the two partners the privilege to work on the drafting of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), in partnership in the fight against money laundering.

The NFIU team led by Cooperation Analyst, Lawrence Adoli was received by the NDLEA Director of Operations and General Investigation, Mr. Olugbenga Mabo at the Agency’s National Headquarters, Lagos.

According to Mabo, the importance of a legal frame work on how the two agencies could collaborate cannot be over emphasized.

“Law enforcement Agencies are not just dealing with traditional criminals but sophisticated and organized criminal groups,” Mabo stated.

“This underscores the significance of a legal framework on modalities of intelligence sharing. It will also define the functions of desk officers for both Agencies”.

Mabo added that the meeting would also find answers to areas of concerns and obstacles experienced in the past while working together.

Adoli who was accompanied by NFIU monetary analysts and legal officers said that for a sustained cordial working relationship, it is imperative for roles to be clearly defined. “The objective of this visit is to discuss operational and legal issues relating to our working relationship. We need a concrete and professional relationship for continuity of our joint operations”.

Those who grace the MOU signing meeting were NDLEA Assistant Director Legal Services, Mrs. Nnuruka Kelechi, Assistant Director Banking Operations, Mrs. Ekaete Egwunwoke, Principal Staff Officer Data Management, Tijani Ahmed, Financial Investigator, Thomas Achu and other senior officers.

 Asides waging war on drug trafficking, NDLEA has in the past, made inroads in arresting currency traffickers and illegal bank documents’ dealers. Currency traffickers have become one of the things that are being ferried by some unscrupulous suspected persons in the recent times.

The act is on the increase just like the illegal trafficking of drugs and currencies including human trafficking.

Investigations have shown that the illegal bank documents are used for bank frauds by those who specialize in the advance fee frauds known as (419), abroad. Identity theft experts are said to be using the documents to defraud bank clients and banks after gaining access to their identities.

This however has increased the rate at which the bank vital documents are being trafficked to other countries.

The illegal movement of bank documents has facilitated the hacking of ATM security codes of bank customers who lose their money to bank thieves on daily basis. The documents trafficked most are Credit Cards, ATM, Cheque books and other sundry documents.

Recently, the officials of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) intercepted one hundred and seven (107) Citi Bank credit cards.

The Automated Teller Machine cards were detected inside a luggage during the outward screening of Turkish Airline passengers to Istanbul, Turkey at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.

A 36 year-old man who has a double identity was apprehended in connection with the illegal possession of the cards.

NDLEA Airport commander, Mr Hamza Umar said that the suspect had two international passports bearing his photograph but with different names.

“He had a Nigerian passport with the name Funsho Oladimeji Babatunde and a Turkish passport with the name Kosar Kursat both bearing his photographs. The cards found in his luggage are 68 Citi Interswitch Master Cards and 39 Citi Interswitch Visa cards,” Hamza stated.

The suspect, who claimed to have come from Iwo town in Kwara State, also stated that he lives in Surulere Lagos area of Lagos State. According to NDLEA’s investigation, the suspect claimed to be a graduate of Kwara Polytechnic and has an Ordinary National Diploma (OND), certificate holder.

In his statement, he told investigators that he was taking the cards to a friend in Turkey.

 “My friend in Turkey called me that I should help in sending the cards to him in Istanbul, Turkey. When I collected the cards in Lagos, I kept them in my bag but during search, the officer saw the cards and took me for interrogation. I am an OND graduate at the Kwara Polytechnic,” he stated.

The suspect was later transferred to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), for further investigation on the orders of the Chairman/Chief Executive of the NDLEA, Ahmadu Giade. “Preliminary investigation suggests that the suspect had unlawful possession of 107 credit cards. The financial instruments are believed to be used for fraudulent purposes since he is not an authorised agent,” Giade stated.

The NDLEA boss promised to prevent any act capable of bringing the image of the country to disrepute.

In January, 2014, NDLEA uncovered a currency trafficking syndicate with the seizure of two hundred and forty thousand ($240,000) United States dollars hidden inside dictionaries at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos State.

The 39 year-old Congolese claimed to be fashion designer, was later identified as Mfundu Angela.

She was arrested for attempting to export the suspected faked dollars to Congo-Kinshasa through Cargolux airline before she was apprehended by the anti-narcotic officers on duty at the MMIA.  NDLEA Commander at the MMIA Lagos, Mr. Hamza Umar, said that the seizure was successful

 “The suspect who hails from the Democratic Republic of Congo brought a sewing machine and a bag containing clothes and five dictionaries for export to Congo”, Umar added.

“There was high suspicion on the consignment and in the process of search, the dictionaries were found to contain twenty-four (24) envelopes containing ten thousand dollars ($10,000) each”.

Investigations revealed that the suspect was a divorcee and a mother of two. She disclosed that the dollars were given to her by her boyfriend.

 “I am a fashion designer from DR Congo. I have two children but my husband and I have been separated. I came to Nigeria in search of greener pastures in 2006. It was my boyfriend that gave me the dictionaries to send to Congo”.

NDLEA boss, Ahmadu Giade described the discovery as a big boost for airport and border securities in the country.

“This remarkable seizure is a big boost for our airport and border security. It is an indication that criminal groups are fast becoming inept based on our superior search operations,” Giade stated.

At the end of preliminary investigation, the suspect was transferred to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for further investigation and legal action.  Security agents say currency traffickers’ love for ferrying faked and original dollars through the airports was because of the tight security on the banks’ transactions by the monitoring agencies beaming their searchlights on banks.  Experts say trafficking on bank documents are part of money laundering. 

From 2012 January to 2014 January, over $800million was reportedly to have been intercepted by the various security agencies in the country with EFCC and NDLEA making much interceptions while bank documents are estimated to be 2000 documents. Financial experts and stakeholders said money laundering is a serious crime because of counter-narcotic and terrorism financing.

To combat terrorism and drug trafficking in Nigeria, the United States Government assured Nigeria of support in counter-narcotics, anti-money laundering, anti-terrorism and other transnational organised crime control.

Ambassador James Entwistle made the promise during his first working visit to the national headquarters of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Ikoyi Lagos.

Ambassador James Entwistle who was accompanied by his wife, Mrs Pamela Entwistle, the US Consul General, Jeffery Hawkins and other officials of the embassy were received by the Chairman/Chief Executive of the NDLEA, Ahmadu Giade.

The US envoy said that he embarked on this first official visit because crime control is a top priority consideration in the protection of lives and property.

“This is my first official visit in Nigeria after presenting my letter of credence to President Goodluck Jonathan. I am delighted to be here because of the increasing need for partnership against transnational organised crimes like drug trafficking, money laundering and terrorism. Our attitude is to share experience and provide military assistance through training programmes on drug control and counter terrorism,” the Ambassador stated.

Ahmadu Giade in his response thanked Ambassador Entwistle for the visit and the support of America to Nigeria’s fight against narcotics and terrorism.

“Our partnership with the United States government has broadened our frontiers of drug control. The impressive operational results recorded from training programmes sponsored by your government as well as donation of drug detection equipment has made our entry and exit points more impregnable to drug trafficking cartels,” Giade stated.

The NDLEA boss promised to sustain and deepen the working relationship with the United States government. Bank fraud is the use of potentially illegal means to obtain money, assets, or other property owned or held by a financial institution or to obtain money from

 Those who trafficked on the financial instruments use such documents to seek access to facilities such as post offices, offices of a tax authority, a corporate payroll or social or humanitarian organizations which process cheques in large numbers. The fraudsters then may open bank accounts under assumed names and deposit the cheques, which they may first alter in order to appear legitimate, so that they can subsequently withdraw unauthorised funds.

Also when forgers gain unauthorised access to blank chequebooks, belonging to others, they forge seemingly legitimate signatures on the cheques in order to illegally gain access to unauthorized funds.

Cheque kiting exploits is another system in which, when a cheque is deposited to a bank account, the money is made available immediately even though it is not removed from the account on which the cheque is drawn until the cheque actually clears.

The partnership between the NDLEA and NFIU is coming few weeks after the Egmont Group settled the confusion about the status of the NFIU as a member of Egmont Group in far away Niamey, Niger Republic. With the confirmation on the status of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, NFIU, by the Group, it was clear that the agency is still a member of the Egmont Group.

The Group gave the NFIU the green light- assurance to continue to discharge its mandatory responsibility in the fight against money laundering.

 NFIU however assured the Egmont of robust relationship to clamp down money laundering and currency trafficking in the country.

NFIU received special commendation for its commitment to the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing at the august 21 plenary session of the Inter Governmental Action Group against Money Laundering, GIABA, in Niamey, Niger Republic.

 At the epoch-making summit, Nigeria was rated first among 16 member states for the FIU's compliance with the FATF 40 + 9 Recommendations using the Mutual Evaluation Reports, MERs, and Follow-up Reports sent to the FATF. 

“This accolade contradicts publication in section of the media alleging that the NFIU had been frozen out of the comity of global Financial Intelligence Units”, Wilson Uwajeren, EFCC  Spokesman stated. 

“One of such reports had alleged that the NFIU, an autonomous body domiciled within the EFCC, stand the risk of being suspended from the Egmont Group by June 1, 2014. This claim, in addition to the report that the NFIU has been disconnected from the Secured Web of the Egmont Group and cannot share intelligence with other Financial Intelligence Units around the world, is unfounded and patently false”.

Continuing, he said. “NFIU’s membership of the Egmont Group is not under any threat. Indeed, the Unit has been discharging its obligations to the Group. The much touted disconnection of the NFIU from the Egmont Secured Web has also become a relic, as the Unit has since been re-connected to the ESW, with unfettered access to other 138 members of the Group”.

This came after a report by a team from the Egmont Group that visited the NFIU to assess the situation in the aftermath of the controversial reported barricade of the Unit by armed security operatives in November 2013.

It was gathered that the fact finding team on the allegations investigated the false claims but observed that the armed security presence at the office of the Agency doesn’t in any way interfere with the operations of the Unit but that the security operatives at the Agency’s office were only deployed to ensure an orderly transition of FIU directors. Uwujaren stated that the team recommended that the NFIU be re- connected to the Egmont Secured Website.

Egmont Group reports and observation on the matter stated thus: “press reports that claimed armed police had seized the NFIU in late November 2013, and attempted to access or destroy NFIU information were unsubstantiated. On the day in question (Wednesday, November 20, 2013), the police entered the NFIU to ensure an orderly transition of FIU directors but the police had no access to NFIU information, include the ESW...”