PBA ReporterOperatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), have arrested members of a syndicate of currency racketeers hoarding and trading with the redesigned Naira notes.
According to a statement by the EFCC’s Head of Media and Publicity, Wilson Uwujaren, the suspects were nabbed in separate operations in the Zone 4 and Dei Dei axis of the Federal Capital Territory on Saturday, 28 January and Monday, 30 January 2023.
He said: “the operation followed intelligence on activities of unscrupulous currency speculators who were exploiting desperate citizens by offering them the new Naira notes for foreign currencies at below the going rate.”
The EFCC Spokesperson disclosed that the suspects have “made useful statements, including disclosure that they were acting in cohort with some unscrupulous officials of Money Deposit Banks.”
Since scarcity of the new naira note hit the country in the past few weeks with the deadline for phasing out the old currency notes announced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), there have been reports of syndicates hawking the new notes in the streets and event centres in different parts of the country.
Uwujaren said the Commission will extend the operation to all the major commercial centres of the country until all the syndicates involved in the illegal trade are demobilised.
The anti-graft agency also warned all financial system operators to “desist from the sharp practices or risk arrest and prosecution,” her added.
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He further stated that Zonal Commanders of the EFCC also met on Monday with officials of various banks in their Commands in an effort to ascertain the volume of the new notes issued to the commercial banks and how the banks were dispensing the monies to their customers.
He said the EFCC Commanders urged the financial market operators to ensure compliance with the guidelines set by the CBN, while disclosing that they have dispatched operatives across their Commands to monitor the level of compliance by banks and other operators in the financial market.
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