EFCC targets forex racket: 300 face prosecution over P2P trading

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The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is setting its sights on hundreds of alleged forex racketeers operating on peer-to-peer (P2P) platforms. This move comes amidst a wider government crackdown on cryptocurrency and unregulated forex activity.

EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, revealed plans to prosecute 300 individuals during an interactive program with editors in Abuja. The announcement follows the freezing of over 300 accounts suspected of illegal forex trading on a P2P platform, authorized by a court order on Monday.

Raising concerns about the scale of the operation, Olukoyede disclosed that one of the frozen accounts processed over $15 billion in transactions within the past year. This highlights the potential for significant financial irregularities within the unregulated P2P forex market.

Olukoyede stated, “We observe due process in whatever we do. Do you know that the Binance case we are currently handling now has helped us to bring down the madness in the forex market?

‘’Suddenly, we discovered that there are people in the system who are even doing worse than Binance. They called them P2P and all of that. We noticed in the last two days ago that dollars have started appreciating. There was stability for 24 hours, then the naira was devalued again by N20 and N25. I don’t know whether you noticed that.

“It was due to the activities of some of these guys on P2P platforms like coolcoin. Some of you must have seen them on social media. To shock you; just yesterday (Monday), I asked them to freeze over 300 accounts. We found that one of those guys (account owners), had traded over $15bn last year.’’

Continuing, the lawyer said 300 illicit accounts would have led to a crash of the naira in the next week if the EFCC hadn’t moved against them.

He added, ‘’Our job is serious. We work 18 hours per day. We are not saying that Nigerians should praise us because that was what we signed for but where we deserve, we should be given. We are humans like Nigerians.

“Over 300 accounts in illicit forex trading that would have led to another crash in the next one week if we didn’t move yesterday. Some people just want to see this country go from bad to worse. We must find a way to work together. We got an order to freeze those accounts; Imagine what would have happened if we didn’t seize those accounts.’’

This action by the EFCC aligns with recent measures taken by the Nigerian government. The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) recently blocked access to online platforms of major cryptocurrency firms, including Binance. The government cited concerns about “continuous manipulation of the forex market and illicit movement of funds” as justification for this move.

Furthermore, the government detained two senior executives of Binance in an earlier attempt to curb speculation on the naira and tighten control over cryptocurrency exchanges.

The EFCC’s prosecution plans and the broader government crackdown on unregulated forex activity signal a growing focus on protecting Nigeria’s financial system and foreign exchange market. The impact of these measures will be closely monitored, particularly their effectiveness in deterring illegal forex practices and fostering a more regulated financial environment.