By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The war against foreign exchange (FX) offences has intensified with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) directing banks in the country to report any customer suspected to have tricked the financial institution to access foreign currencies.
On Wednesday, the anti-graft agency held a meeting with Chief Compliance Officers of banks operating in the Uyo zonal command and it emphasised that it would no longer be business as usual.
The Commander of the region, Mr Nwanneka Nwokike, also said the agency will not hesitate to deal with bank officials providing forex to customers who have no intention of travelling outside Nigeria.
He tasked them to do their due diligence before allocating FX to their customers, noting that the commission would not accept excuses.
Mr Nwokike said the EFCC was aware of some bank customers presenting fake travel documents, including false flight bookings, to obtain forex, but stressed that it was the duty of the lenders to identify this and report such customers involved in forex malpractices to the commission.
According to him, the EFCC, under the leadership of Mr Abdulrasheed Bawa, has vowed to clamp down on forex offenders, be they bank officials or customers.
“Always report [to the EFCC] bank officials who collude with criminal elements to collect foreign exchange. There are very strong indications that it is happening, … go back and sensitize your staff, to ensure that they always do the right thing because doing the right thing has become the new normal; therefore, proper verification of documents presented by customers for Forex must be done.
“Again, the commission will not entertain excuses, and will no longer look away when Banks fail to do their due diligence,” Mr Nwokike informed the bank officers.
The Zonal Commander further asked for a better working relationship that will ensure quick response by banks to letters from the agency.
While responding to the issue of customers who book foreign flights and cancel after collecting FX from banks, the Deputy Zonal Commander, Mr Hamidu Bawa, instructed the compliance officers to report such customers to the commission.
“When you observe such offenders, report them to the commission and provide their BVN along because after now, the liability will be on you and I’m sure you don’t want that to happen,” he said.
