The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has exposed a massive financial fraud scheme involving a new-generation commercial bank, six fintech companies, and several microfinance banks. The illicit operation, valued at over N162 billion, centres on cryptocurrency transactions and serious breaches of anti-money laundering protocols.
During a press briefing at the EFCC headquarters in Abuja, the Commission accused the implicated institutions of failing to carry out proper Know-Your-Customer (KYC) and Customer Due Diligence (CDD) processes. This failure allegedly enabled fraudsters to funnel vast sums of illicit money through Nigeria’s financial system undetected.
Serious Systemic Failures in Financial Oversight
EFCC’s Director of Public Affairs, Wilson Uwujaren, revealed that investigations uncovered deep weaknesses in internal controls across the affected financial institutions. He explained that between 2024 and 2025, these lapses allowed over N18.1 billion to move through the financial system without due diligence checks.
More shockingly, a single unnamed bank processed cryptocurrency transactions worth N162 billion without flagging suspicious activities. In one case, a single individual reportedly operated 960 separate accounts within a single bank—all linked to fraudulent activity.
Uwujaren noted that despite the magnitude of the fraud, the Commission has so far recovered N33.62 million, which has been returned to some of the defrauded victims.
Airline Ticket Scam and Fake Investment Platform
The EFCC investigation also uncovered two major fraud schemes linked to the compromised financial platforms.
The first was an airline ticket scam operated by a syndicate that promoted fake discount offers on international flights. Victims believed they were paying the airline directly, but once transactions were completed, their bank accounts were emptied. This scheme reportedly defrauded over 700 victims, with losses exceeding N651 million. A foreign national is believed to be the mastermind, and the EFCC has already refunded part of the stolen funds to affected individuals.
The second scheme involved a fraudulent investment platform called Fred and Farid Investment Limited (FF Investment). The platform, run by foreign nationals and their Nigerian collaborators, lured over 200,000 Nigerians into fake investment offers, generating nearly N18 billion in the process.
Shell companies involved in the scheme include:
- Credio Banco Limited
- Deliberty Rock Limited
- Liam Chumeks Global Service
- Ngwuoke Daniels Technology
- Icons Autos and Import Merchant
- Newpace Technology Services Limited
- Primepath Ways Ventures Limited
- Kaka Synergy Network Limited
- Sunlight Tech Hub Services Limited
While three Nigerian suspects have been arrested and charged to court, the foreign actors are reportedly still at large, with manhunt efforts ongoing.
EFCC Calls for Stricter Financial Regulation
The EFCC has urged Nigeria’s financial regulators to enforce stricter compliance standards, especially regarding KYC, Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs), and CDD frameworks. Uwujaren called on regulators to suspend and hand over to the EFCC any financial institutions found to be aiding and abetting fraudulent schemes.
He warned that continued negligence exposes Nigeria’s economy to systemic financial risks, emphasizing that banks and fintechs must be held accountable for the transactions they facilitate.
