Bello argued that the huge amount taken out of the country illegally
would have made a considerable impact on the Nigerian economy.
The LCCI boss stated this at a recent conference tagged: “Anti-money
Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Identity Theft Management,”
organised by the Lagos branch of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of
Nigeria (CIBN).
While stating that money launders used to take away millions of naira
in the past, he alleged that the crime has grown into billions of naira.
The trend, according to him, calls for greater regulation as a result
of the effect on the Nigerian economy.
"It is naive to think that Western nations will help us to police the
theft of our patrimony. In many ways, they benefit from our corruption,
"he alleged.
He added: "Therefore, there is need for Nigerians to fight for
themselves through public enlightenment processes and accountability by
Nigerian officials.”
He said that campaign against money laundering and terrorist financing
should also at the fore front of any political campaign as well as the
on-going national conference.
"In addition to normal anti-money laundering controls, banks must focus
on terrorist financing, using knowledge derived from exclusive data
base and case studies available,"he said.
Meanwhile, the Chairman, CIBN, Lagos branch, Mr. Bolade Agboola, in his
address, said banks have been effective in the battle against money
laundering, adding that they don't fail to report such issues anytime
they see any transaction that is not transparent.
"It is effective on the part of the banks. We don't fail in reporting
all these issues if we see any transaction based on the stipulation by
the Anti-money Laundering Act.
“We report it and it is now left for security agencies to probe the
sequence or the origin of the movement of that fund through the system,
"he said.
Agboola, however, maintained that it would be better to make things
difficult for perpetrators to move funds through the financial system.
"Normally, you know the bulk of the money goes through the financial system and you cannot go through it successfully without being reported,” Agboola added.
Source: www.thisdaylive.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment