Esther Salifu
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has traced funds linked to the collapsed CBEX cryptocurrency investment scheme to at least four countries, highlighting the transnational nature of the fraud. EFCC Chairman Ola Olukoyede disclosed this during an interview on Channels Television on April 30, 2025.
Olukoyede stated that while several accounts have been blocked and funds frozen, the exact amounts cannot be disclosed at this time. He emphasized the difficulty in achieving full restitution for victims due to the international scope of the scam and the dissipation of funds beyond Nigeria’s jurisdiction.
“We have been able to block some accounts. We have been able to freeze some funds, for which I will not be able to give you a figure, but we have been able to freeze some reasonable amount of funds,” Olukoyede said.
“I will not sit down and tell you that we are going to restitute every victim. It will become practically impossible because quite a certain number of money has been dissipated and not within our system.
“We have traced to three, four countries now. In fact, the principal parties behind the entire scheme, most of them are foreigners, they are not within our jurisdiction, and you know what that entails.
“In fact, it took our proficiency to be able to even freeze some assets that we have now. So, yes, we’ve embarked on that journey. Whatever we can get back, we will get it back and let Nigerians know. But we will not be able to confirm that we will restitute every victim. That may be practically impossible.”
The EFCC has arrested three suspects currently in custody who have provided valuable information to investigators. “We have made arrests. Right now, we have about three people in our custody who have made very useful statements,” Olukoyede added.
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