EFCC starts freezing suspicious funds within 72 hours, targets crypto wallets

• EFCC says it can freeze suspicious funds within 72 hours while investigating their source and destination.

• The commission is targeting cryptocurrency wallets as illicit funds are increasingly moved into digital assets.

• EFCC says about 40 virtual asset platforms are licensed in Nigeria, improving its ability to trace registered crypto transactions.

• The commission has also established a national confiscation wallet for seized cryptocurrencies.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) says it is strengthening its efforts to prevent financial crimes by monitoring suspicious transactions and freezing funds within 72 hours of detecting unusual movements.

EFCC Chairman Ola Olukoyede disclosed this on Monday, August 31, during a media interactive session in Abuja to mark his third year in office.

Olukoyede said the commission is shifting from waiting for financial crimes to occur before acting to a more proactive approach focused on identifying suspicious transactions early and preventing funds from being moved beyond the reach of investigators.

According to him, the commission has established the Fraud Risk Assessment and Control Department (FRAC) to monitor financial movements and intervene when transactions raise suspicion.

“Why must we be waiting for money to be stolen? When we see money moving suspiciously, we move in and freeze. Pending 72 hours, we ask: where is this money going?” Olukoyede said. 

The EFCC chairman cited a case in which funds were allegedly moved from a local government account to a private company and subsequently transferred into cryptocurrency wallets.

He said the commission's fraud risk department detected the transactions and intervened by freezing the funds for 72 hours to establish their destination and purpose. Olukoyede did not identify the local government, company or state involved. 

Olukoyede said the movement of suspected illicit funds into cryptocurrency has become an increasing challenge for financial crime investigators because digital assets can be transferred rapidly and may be harder to trace to conventional assets.

He alleged that some public officials now move funds into cryptocurrency wallets within 24 hours, sometimes using younger people to facilitate the transactions.

“At the press of a button, you can collapse the entire banking industry in Nigeria. Most of the data we are investigating now, you can’t trace tangible assets to them,” he said. 

The EFCC chairman said the commission has developed greater capacity to trace cryptocurrency wallets connected to virtual asset platforms operating within Nigeria.

He disclosed that about 40 virtual asset platforms have been licensed in Nigeria, giving investigators greater ability to follow transactions involving registered platforms. 

The commission is also now working with other government agencies on the management of confiscated virtual assets.

Olukoyede said a national confiscation wallet has been established to hold cryptocurrencies seized by the government.

“One of the problems we used to have was: where do you put confiscated virtual assets? Today we have a national wallet that we put them into,” he said. 

The EFCC is also relying more heavily on civil asset forfeiture in its efforts to recover suspected proceeds of crime.

Olukoyede said the commission is using Section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud Act to pursue assets directly rather than waiting for lengthy criminal trials to conclude before attempting to recover proceeds.

“This is faster and quicker than criminal trial. We don’t have to wait 10, 15 years when witnesses die and assets are dissipated,” he said.

He explained that under the civil process, the commission can take action against an asset while the person claiming ownership is required to explain its source.

The EFCC chairman also disclosed that the commission has established a Process and Proceeds Management Directorate to oversee forfeited assets.

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According to him, professionals are appointed to manage different categories of assets, while proceeds from assets that are disposed of under appropriate legal orders are handled through the relevant government processes. 

The development is part of a wider effort by the EFCC to strengthen its response to money laundering, illicit financial flows and the use of virtual assets in financial crimes.

In a separate account of his tenure presented at the briefing, Olukoyede said the commission recovered more than ₦1.23 trillion and $684.48 million between October 2023 and June 2026, alongside recoveries in pounds and euros.

The chairman said law enforcement alone cannot eliminate financial crime and called for stronger policies and institutional reforms to close loopholes that allow public and private funds to be diverted.

“The most effective system is not law enforcement. It is the policy regime, institutional reforms that close leakages,” he said.