The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has disclosed that public funds were transferred from a local government account to a private company before subsequently being moved into cryptocurrency wallets.
EFCC Chairman Ola Olukoyede made the disclosure on Monday while speaking with media executives and journalists in Abuja, saying the commission could not ignore what it considered suspicious movement of public funds.
Olukoyede said the commission’s Fraud Risk Assessment and Control Department detected the transaction and intervened by freezing the funds for 72 hours while investigators worked to establish their destination and purpose.
According to him, the transaction initially involved money moving from a local government account to a private company. Further checks allegedly showed that the funds were subsequently transferred into cryptocurrency wallets.
The EFCC chairman did not disclose the name of the local government, the private company or the state involved in the transaction. He also stressed that the case he cited was not linked to the Osun State Government account that the commission froze earlier in August.
Olukoyede defended the decision to intervene before investigators could conclusively establish that the funds had been stolen, saying the commission was changing its approach from waiting for financial crimes to occur to identifying suspicious transactions at an early stage.
He said the use of cryptocurrency wallets had become an emerging challenge in financial crime investigations, alleging that some public officials under investigation were using young people as fronts to move suspected illicit funds through digital wallets.
According to the EFCC chairman, investigators are increasingly finding cases where conventional assets cannot easily be traced to individuals under investigation because funds are allegedly transferred to other people who operate cryptocurrency wallets.
He said the commission had developed the ability to trace cryptocurrency wallets, particularly those connected to virtual asset platforms registered in Nigeria. About 40 virtual asset platforms have reportedly been licensed under the country's regulatory framework.
Olukoyede also disclosed that the EFCC had recovered virtual assets linked to the CBEX fraud but acknowledged that the custody of confiscated cryptocurrency had previously presented accountability challenges.
He said the Federal Government had approved the establishment of a national confiscation wallet where virtual assets recovered by law enforcement agencies would be kept.
The EFCC chairman said the development was part of broader efforts to strengthen the commission's ability to investigate financial crimes involving digital assets and prevent suspicious funds from being moved beyond the reach of investigators.
He also disclosed that the commission had recovered about ₦288.1 billion in federal and state tax revenue during the period under review, comprising approximately ₦173.2 billion in federal tax recoveries and ₦114.9 billion through State Internal Revenue Services.
Olukoyede further revealed that more than 40 EFCC personnel had been dismissed over alleged corruption and financial malpractice during the past two-and-a-half to three years, with some already facing prosecution.
The latest disclosure highlights the growing use of cryptocurrency in financial crime investigations and the increasing efforts by Nigerian authorities to track digital transactions involving suspected illicit funds.
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