By Luminous Jannamike

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has teamed up with international partners in the United Kingdom to track and recover stolen funds.

The collaboration was announced at the 41st International Symposium on Economic Crime held at Jesus College, Cambridge, where EFCC officials are participating alongside global experts.

The symposium, themed “Suspect Assets,” focuses on asset tracing, recovery, forfeiture, and associated issues.

According to EFCC’s Secretary, Mohammed Hammajoda, who led the Nigerian delegation, the partnership aims to tackle threats posed by fraudsters and recover proceeds of crime.

He explained that the EFCC’s participation in the symposium highlights Nigeria’s commitment to combating economic crime and recovering stolen funds.

Dr. Umar Bello, Head of the Strategic Intelligence Analysis Unit at EFCC, identified major problems in tracking suspect wealth.

He said, “The major problems are third-party money laundering, trade-based money laundering, concealment of beneficial ownership, and excessive use of cash transactions to obscure illicit sources of funds.

“To break these jinxes, effective case management principles should be adopted to identify suspects’ wealth in the financial system.

“There is an overarching need for multilateral collaboration among agencies involved in asset tracing to strengthen their officials in dealing with the complexities of suspect assets.”

Justice John Tosho, Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Nigeria, shared the country’s successes in forfeiture of assets and recovery of stolen funds, highlighting efforts to ensure fraudsters do not retain proceeds of crime.

“We are making considerable efforts to ensure that fraudsters don’t get away with the proceeds of their crime,” he assured.

Meanwhile, Prof. Barry Rider, Founder and Executive Director of Jesus College, Cambridge, emphasized the importance of addressing suspect wealth.

His words, “The symposium focuses on a raft of concerns relating to the identification, interdiction, and control of suspect wealth, whether this constitutes criminal property, unexplained wealth, or wealth possessed by those we don’t like.

“And, perhaps for the stability and security of our economies, rather more importantly, the impact—direct and indirect—of such interventions on the rest of us, and in particular our financial institutions and their advisers.”

The event brought together academics, judges, lawyers, investigators, public affairs experts, government officials, policymakers, and law enforcement officers from around the world.

Topics under discussion include identifying suspect wealth, pursuing suspect wealth in cyberspace, and unexplained wealth.

Other topics being discussed include sanctions and suspect wealth, FATF grey listing, and prosecuting high-profile individuals for corruption.