The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, has warned point-of-sale (POS) operators across Nigeria against assisting fraudsters and money launderers in carrying out financial crimes.
Olukoyede gave the warning on Wednesday when a delegation of the Association of Mobile Money and Bank Agents in Nigeria (AMMBAN), led by its National President, Oti Obioha, visited the EFCC headquarters.
Represented by Michael Nzekwe, his Chief of Staff and Commander of the EFCC, Olukoyede said POS operators have increasingly become involved in financial crimes, including money laundering, terrorist financing and ransom payments.
He urged AMMBAN to strengthen its internal structure and establish a comprehensive system for monitoring its members, saying criminals should not be allowed to exploit POS terminals for illegal financial activities.
“We have realised that the issues of money laundering, terrorist financing, and even ransom payments are made mostly from POS machines,” the EFCC chairman said.
“Your association needs to do more by coming up with a structure and a comprehensive framework that will have records of all your operators so that during the course of investigation, we will be able to trace, monitor and have records that can aid us.”
The EFCC chairman also raised concerns about how POS operators are trained and the extent to which records of their addresses and transactions are maintained.
“There are even some POS operators who are actually fraudsters; they aid, conspire, give out information and abet fraudsters,” he said.
“Most times, in the course of investigation, when you find out that money was laundered through a POS operator, by the time you bring them in, they won’t even know the person who sent the money and who withdrew it, there are no records of the transactions, and no one is asking questions.
“You need to put your house in order and do more.”
Olukoyede called on AMMBAN leaders to ensure that members maintain proper financial records for every transaction and keep accurate records of POS operators operating across the country.
He also said the commission was willing to collaborate with the association through training, public awareness and information sharing to help reduce financial crimes involving POS businesses.
Speaking on behalf of the association, AMMBAN National President Oti Obioha acknowledged the financial implications of POS operations and stressed the need for closer cooperation with the EFCC.
“We deem it fit to present ourselves to help and work with the EFCC in preventing money laundering and other kinds of fraud,” he said.
“We are at the grassroots, and we observe that your institution is always inviting our members.
“We wish we can have a partnership that can see to the training of our members on some of the issues like financial thresholds and the risks involved in some of our operations.
“So, we are here to help you curb the rate of fraud in the business we do.”
Source: EFCC
