EFCC: 90% of money laundering is through real estate sector

EFCC Chairman Abdulrasheed Bawa

Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Abdulrasheed Bawa, has disclosed that 90 percent of money laundering is done through the real estate sector.

The anti-corruption agency boss stated this while speaking on Channels TV’s Sunrise Daily on Tuesday morning. Stating that the real estate sector is monitored through the special control unit, Bawa admitted that more needed to be done.

“One of the problems we have now is the real estate. 90 to 100 percent of the resources are being laundered through the real estate”, Bawa said.

He said although there were many issues involved, the commission was working with the National Assembly to stop what he referred to as “the gatekeepers”. According to him, there would be a reduction in looting if there is no one to launder the money.

Explaining further, Bawa cited an example of a minister who expressed interest in a $37.5 million property a bank manager put up for sale.

He said: “The bank sent a vehicle to her house and in the first instance $20 million was evacuated from her house.

“They paid a developer and a lawyer set up a special purpose vehicle, where the title documents were transferred into.

“And he (the lawyer) is posing as the owner of the property. You see the problem. This is just one of many; it is happening daily.”

Bawa, who was appointed as the EFCC boss by President Muhammadu Buhari in February and subsequently confirmed as the substantive chairman of the anti-corruption agency by the Senate had pledged to steer the commission towards proactive and intelligence-led investigations.

Editor