Economic
and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Chairman Ibrahim Magu vowed yesterday
that the agency would go after banks being used for the looting of
the nation’s treasury and money laundering.
He
asked the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to stop private banking in the
country and pledged the determination of his team to give corruption a brutal
fight.
Magu
was reported by the agency’s in-house magazine, Alert, as telling
Channels Television in an interview that the era was gone when treasury
looters kept their money under the guise of private banking.
He
said there was no more hiding place for banks to be used by corrupt
public officials and fraudsters.
He
said: “We are not only going after the personnel of banks, we are also going
after the banks. What happens is that when a staff of the bank is involved in
such activities, what the bank does is to take the person out of the system
through dismissal.
“But
now, we are going to go after the banks and the personnel used to perpetrate
the fraud. It takes two to tango. In fact, very soon, you will see us going
after the managing directors of the banks.
“We
don’t care what happens because the right thing has to be done because they
have given a lot of room for money laundering activities to thrive. They were
used to hide all the stolen money.”
On
private banking, he said the EFCC has advised the CBN to stop it in all banks.
“We
had a discussion with the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Godwin
Emefiele, and I insisted that this so-called private banking should be stopped.
It is illegal; it is wrong.”
On
repatriation of stolen funds, the EFCC chairman said: “Of course, we are
working with all the law enforcement agencies- the Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI), the NCA, the Swiss Police and the Italians as well and
many other people.
“There
are requirements you must enter- the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) –
with other countries. We are following the money and we will get them back very
soon. But it has to be done within the law.
“There
are procedures and they are really tedious. But there is an improvement because
these countries are willing to issue warrant; they are willing to restrain any
account we point out.
They are willing to also release the property we
have traced to their countries. We are also helping them at this end.
“We
are working with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and many countries are now
ready to key in because they realize that fighting corruption is a very serious
issue.”
Magu,
who admitted that corruption has been fighting back at him, said he would fight
the monster to the end with his team.
“Corruption
is fighting back and some of the fighting back is coming from government
officials. It is very serious, but I have fought corruption and corruption
fought back. I am still fighting corruption.
“If
it is my portion to lead the corruption fight particularly under President
Muhammadu Buhari. I am fulfilled. We are ready to fight to the end. Somebody
has to do it and I am happy we are making tremendous progress.”
Responding
to a question, he said there is no sacred cow in the fight against corruption.
He
said corrupt suspects will be arrested and prosecuted irrespective of political
parties they belong to.
He
said: “There is no sacred cow as far as this fight against corruption is
concerned. We will go after anybody who has committed an offence. We will
collect the money back so that it will go back to the treasury so that it can
be used for the original purposes.
“I
don’t care whether you are black or white or you come from Party A or Party B;
the moment it can be established that you have stolen from the public treasury,
we will go after you.
“Even
right here (in EFCC), if we discover that you are corrupt, we will kick you
out. And we are already doing that. So, we don’t go after innocent people. We
are going after the thieves of state resources.”
On
his reaction to President Muhammadu Buhari’s concurrence in London that
Nigerians are fantastically corrupt, Magu said: “I won’t go beyond the
reactions of Mr. President.”
He
however said that London is the capital of money laundering.
He
added: “I think it was most appropriate and you cannot shy away from being
called corrupt because corruption has gone deep. The President’s reaction is
‘whatever it is, give me back what has been taken from us.’
“Of
course, London is the capital of money laundering. Most of the stolen monies
are hidden there either by way of property, banks or physical cash.
“I
have an advantage of leading the EFCC now because what you need most when you
are fighting corruption is the political will of the leadership.
“You
will agree with me that Mr. President is not pretending about fighting
corruption. You can see that it is in his blood. So, we are so lucky to have
somebody who is committed, who supports us, who does not interfere with what we
are doing and I mean that.
“It
is good; you can see how we are moving. It is unprecedented.”
Regarding
plea bargain, he said it is not a bad idea depending on the cooperation of
accused persons who have stolen public funds.
He
said: “I know plea bargain has a lot of issues, but if it is handled properly,
it is not bad. If you happen to cooperate and you don’t give us too much
problem and we sit down and look at what has been recovered from you, we can
agree to entertain plea bargain.”
Magu
insisted that the EFCC does not detain suspects illegally.
He
said those who had met bail conditions were always allowed to go by the
anti-graft commission.
“Nobody
that has met the bail conditions is kept in the cell. We don’t do that.
Honestly, it does not happen here. If we have any reason to keep somebody
beyond the time allowed by law, we go to the court and obtain a remand warrant.
“But
sometimes, when you arrest the suspect, on disclosure, you will get additional
information from them. For instance, somebody who has stolen state funds to the
time of $88m, you do not expect me to let him go like that.
“It
is when you keep them that some of them will oblige and return the money and it
is very important for us to get the money back.”
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