The Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Ola Olukoyede yesterday said the agency has recovered $180, 300 for two Canadian victims of romance scam.
He also said the EFCC tracked and intercepted 53 stolen vehicles from Canada, which were shipped into the country.
He said nine of the vehicles were intercepted aboard a vessel in Tin Can Island Port in Lagos with the collaboration of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).
He said other vehicles were tracked to various car stands in the country.
But he said since financial crime is borderless, there will be no hiding place for perpetrators.
Olukoyede made the disclosures while handing over the proceeds of crimes to two representatives of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) namely, Regional Officer, Nasser Sadiou and the First Secretary, Deputy High Commission of Canada, Nigeria, Mr Robert Aboumitiri.
He said the Canadian victims of romance scam were Elena Bogomas ($164, 000US) and Sandra Butler ($16,300 US).
He said one of the romance scammers bought properties, which were traced and sold to recover the value of the sum in question.
He said the suspect was put on trial and jailed to serve as deterrent to others.
He said justice would take its course on the other suspect.
He said: “This is an occasion we are really going to use to demonstrate our commitment to the fight against financial crimes. We have demonstrated that what affects one country will affect another.
“Financial crime is borderless. These criminals perpetrate their evils across jurisdictions but we are all cooperating to track them. We have recovered financial assets to prove that Nigeria is not safe for those involved in financial crimes.
“It’s common knowledge that financial crimes have taken a new turn all across the globe.The people who perpetrate these crimes, do it in such a way that we discover that their activities are quite borderless and barbaric.
“That’s why it has become very necessary and imperative for us to collaborate with our friends across the world and with agencies which share the same objective and mandate with us.”
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Olukoyede said there is no hiding place for financial crimes perpetrators.
He said: “Nigeria will not tolerate any act of financial crimes. Nigerian government does not tolerate financial crimes.
“What the EFCC is doing today is doing on behalf of the Federal Government of Nigeria.
“It is also demonstrating the fact that the president has given us the mandate to extend our hands to ensure that this particular problem is resolved and that is exactly what we are doing here today.
“Not only that, we are going to pursue it, because not only that, we will investigate, we will recover, we will prosecute and we will ensure that the victim is restituted.
“We have recovered money, financial assets, and also we have recovered vehicles on behalf of the victims in Canada.
“As a matter of fact, the total 53 vehicles were recovered on behalf of the victims.
“In one instance, we had $164,000 U.S. dollars given to a Canadian victim known as Elena Bogomas.
“Also, we have here, which we will present to you today, another sum of $16,300 U.S. dollars stolen from another victim known as Sandra Butler.”
After the signing of documents for the transfer of the recovered assets, Sadiou said: “I am really happy to be here. I feel like being home. I am very happy with the recovery and we appreciate the EFCC on the job they have done.
“It is a testimony of your professionalism and commitment in the combat against financial crimes.
“EFCC is one of the key partners in the fight against financial crimes in the world and West Africa in particular.”
Aboumitiri said the partnership between the Canadian government and the Federal Government has been yielding positive results.
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