A Religious Sect Is Laundering Money For Terrorists Organisations – EFCC

The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mr Ola Olukoyede, has declared that a religious sect in Nigeria is laundering money for terrorists.

Olukayode also said that another religious body was found to be protecting money launderer after some funds suspected to have been laundered was traced to the organisation’s bank account.

The EFCC Chairman who stated these at a public engagement on Youth, Religion, and the Fight Against Corruption and the launch of the Fraud Risk Assessment Project for Ministries, Departments, and Agencies of the Federal Government, said that the Commission was investigating a N13bn fraud case when it discovered that N7bn of the N13bn was linked to a religious body’s bank account.

Olukayode further said that religious organisations, institutions, sects, and bodies have been found culpable of money laundering.

He however, said that the religious organisation quickly obtained a restraining order to prevent the EFCC from probing its leaders.

In the words of Olukayode; “We were able to trace some laundered money to a religious organisation, and when we approached the religious organisation about it and we were carrying out our investigation, we got a restraining order stopping us from carrying out our investigation”.

The EFCC boss said the commission will not give up on the investigation, adding that it is appealing the restraining order to recover the stolen funds.

The one-day event was aimed at addressing the challenges of youth involvement in cybercrimes and how religion could be used as a weapon for their reorientation.

The event with the theme; “Youth, Religion and the Fight Against Corruption,” featured the launch of the Interfaith Preaching and Teaching Manual developed by the Interfaith Anti-Corruption Advisory Committee of the Commission as a resource to promote abhorrence for corruption among adherents of Islam and Christianity.

 Similarly, the EFCC’s Fraud Risk Assessment Prevention and Control Project for Ministries, Departments and Agencies was also launched at the event.