THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), on Friday, September 6, handed over 53 recovered vehicles and $180, 300 to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) on behalf of the victims of financial crimes in Canada.
EFCC Chairman, Mr. Ola Olukoyede, handed over the recovered assets to the representatives of RCMP in Abuja, led by its Regional Officer, Mr. Nasser Sadiou, and First Secretary, Deputy High Commission of Canada, Nigeria, Mr. Robert Aboumitiri.
Olukoyede said the vehicles were stolen from Canada and tracked to various car stands in Nigeria, nine of which were tracked to Customs port, where they were awaiting clearance.
According to him, the $164, 000 was recovered for a Canadian, Elena Bogomas, in a romance scam, and $16, 300 for another Canadian, Sandra Butler, adding that one of the fraudsters used his proceeds to buy an estate and was later arrested, prosecuted, jailed and the property sold to recover the funds.
“It’s common knowledge that financial crimes have taken a new turn all across the globe. The people who perpetrate these crimes do it in such a way that we discover that their activities are quite borderless and barbaric.
“They employ all kinds of means to ensure that they move across various jurisdictions. That’s why it has become very necessary and imperative for us to collaborate with our friends across the world. People share the same objective and mandate with us.
“What the EFCC is doing today is on behalf of the Federal Government of Nigeria and it is also demonstrating the fact that the President has given us the mandate to extend our hands to ensure that this particular problem is resolved and that is exactly what we are doing here today.”
Olukoyede said the exercise was a demonstration of EFCC’s commitment to the inter-agency cooperation in the country and also a demonstration of the fact that the Nigerian government does not tolerate financial crimes.
“Not only that, we are going to pursue it, because not only that, we will investigate, we will recover, we will prosecute and we will ensure that the victim is restituted.
“We have recovered money, financial assets and also we have recovered vehicles on behalf of the victims in Canada. As a matter of fact, the 53 vehicles were recovered on behalf of the victims.”
Sadiou, in his remarks after the signing of documents for the transfer of the recovered assets, thanked the Nigerian government and the EFCC in the fight against corruption, noting: “I am really happy to be here. I feel like being home. I am very happy with the recovery and we appreciate the EFCC on the job they have done.
“It is a testimony of your professionalism and commitment in the combat against financial crimes.
“EFCC is one of the key partners in the fight against financial crimes in the world and West Africa in particular.”
Aboumitiri, on his part, lauded the partnership between the Canadian government and the Federal Government of Nigeria, saying the collaboration has been yielding positive results.
