The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has announced the recovery of some money from the digital investment platform Crypto Bridge Exchange (CBEX) trading platform.
This was announced by the chairman of the anti-graft agency, Mr Ola Olukoyede in an interview with TVC on Sunday.
The EFCC Chairman added that the agency’s operatives had also arrested some suspects in connection with the fraud.
“We have gone far with CBEX. We have been able to recover a reasonable amount of money,” he said.
He explained further that stolen money was in cryptocurrency and the EFCC has been able to trace and recover part of it.
He also acknowledged that the agency experienced difficulties while converting the funds back to dollars in cash.
He added: “Even though in the crypto wallet, the same way the money was taken from them. There is no way you will get them in dollars. There is no way you get the dollars in cash without necessarily going through the same process.”
The EFCC boss added that some suspects have already been arrested, noting that the agency is still pursuing others who are on the run.
“We have gone far. We have made a reasonable arrest.
“We are not going to give out much because we don’t want the process to be disrupted. We are still after quite a number of people we have declared wanted,” he said
He stated that the investigation has been challenging because the fraudsters utilised “non-custodial wallets,” which means there was no identity linked to the accounts, making it more difficult to trace the criminals.
“We are still investigating a lot of wallets and the wallets they created are called noncustodian wallets; in other words, no KYC. So, you can’t trace it to anybody.
“So, from the noncustodial wallet, they moved it to some wallets in Europe, Eastern Europe, particularly Cambodia and from there, they dispersed the money. We have been able to block some of these wallets where money has not been dispersed.
“That is to the extent that we have gone. I even learnt that there are still some of these perpetrators and Nigerians are still falling victim. I believe people should learn from this,” he added.
Spearnews earlier reported how CBEX crashed, wiping out the life savings of thousands of Nigerians, particularly young people, who believed they were investing in a legitimate platform.
Adefowora Abiodun, a suspected promoter of the scheme, voluntarily surrendered to the agency in April.
This came after Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja ruled to approve the EFCC’s request to arrest and detain six promoters of CBEX, including Adefowora.
Abiodun, along with five others – Adefowora Oluwanisola, Emmanuel Uko, Seyi Oloyede, Avwerosuo Otorudo, and Chukwuebuka Ehirim – was declared wanted by the EFCC following submissions made by the commission’s counsel, Fadila Yusuf.
After hearing the EFCC’s application, Justice Nwite had ruled, “I have listened to the submission of learned counsel for the applicant (EFCC). I have also reviewed the affidavit evidence and exhibits, along with the written address. I am satisfied that the application is meritorious and hereby grant it as prayed.”
All six promoters were declared wanted by the EFCC for their alleged involvement in a fraudulent investment scheme valued at over $1billion.
Following the declaration, Abiodun, accompanied by his lawyers, turned himself in at the EFCC headquarters in Abuja around 4 p.m. on Monday.
Abiodun expressed his willingness to cooperate with the EFCC.
The counsel for the suspect, Babatunde Busari, stated that his client decided to submit himself for investigation to clear his name and correct the narrative being widely circulated in the media.
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