The EFCC and NBA have joined forces to combat the growing menace of money laundering in Nigeria’s real estate sector. This collaborative effort seeks to identify and prosecute lawyers who knowingly enable criminals to conceal their ill-gotten gains through property deals.
In a joint initiative, the EFCC and NBA hosted a workshop in Abuja on Tuesday, aimed at enlightening legal professionals on the crucial importance of thorough client screening. This collaborative effort emphasized the need for due diligence in preventing illicit activities.
EFCC Chairman, Mr. Ola Olukoyede, emphasized that the collaboration was crucial due to the alarming rate at which criminals disguise their ill-gotten gains as legitimate transactions, frequently enlisting the services of lawyers to facilitate these illegal activities.
According to Mr. Daniel Osei, Director of SCUML, who represented the EFCC Chairman at the workshop, Nigeria is currently beset by the pernicious threats of money laundering and terrorism financing, which necessitate a robust and coordinated response to mitigate their far-reaching consequences.
According to him, the government’s efforts to combat corruption would be significantly bolstered by the collective backing of Nigeria’s legal community, leading to substantial breakthroughs in the fight against graft.“The framework of collaboration is an international requirement. No agency or body can do it alone,” he added.
On its part, the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, NFIU, noted that a recent study pinpointed the banking sector and the real estate as major areas of vulnerability for the country.
In his presentation, a Chief Operating Officer at the NFIU, Dr. Emmanuel Sotande, decried that criminal minded individuals, especially politically exposed persons, often conceal their proceeds of crime by using lawyers to buy landed assets across the federation.
He referenced a 2022 National Risk Assessment study, which identified the various money laundering tactics, including the use of family connections to mask criminal activities, and the exploitation of real estate agents and lawyers to facilitate transactions and launder illicit funds.
He contended that legal practitioners have a duty to the nation to serve as sentinels and report suspicious transactions to the NFIU and the NBA, thereby helping to prevent the perpetration of financial crimes and upholding the integrity of the legal profession.
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According to Sotande, a fundamental transformation in lawyers’ thinking is essential to effectively tackle Anti-Money Laundering (AML) compliance, as the legal community must adapt to emerging threats and take a more assertive role in preventing illicit financial activities.
“Lawyers have a lot of responsibility because some of them help their clients to buy houses. Criminal minded people invest or conceal their proceed of crimes using lawyers to buy assets in real estate.
“What we can be thinking as lawyers, is, do I need to consult NBA to advise me on a very sensitive transaction with a politically exposed person?
“For example, if a politically exposed persons wants to do a transaction with your law firm, and you think this transaction is very sensitive, you can consult the NBA to guide.
“Unfortunately, many lawyers have engagement with real estate practitioners and also provide real estate services. Because lawyers also engage in real estate, we need to have a robust guidelines.
“The problem now is that we have some lawyers who deal in properties; so what kind of guidelines do we put in place?
“Real estate is a major vulnerability for the country and lawyers play very vital role in assisting in the purchase of assets by these persons,” the NFIU officer added.
The NBA President, Mr. Yakubu Maikyau, SAN, urged the legal community to prioritize Anti-Money Laundering compliance and uphold the highest ethical standards in financial transactions, emphasizing the critical role lawyers play in safeguarding the integrity of the financial system.
A new committee will be constituted by the legal body to oversee lawyers’ compliance with anti-money laundering legislation, providing guidance and addressing concerns related to these regulations.
“We are in a better position to give direction in this regard. That is why, when we came on board, we decided that our responsibility in this regard is to make the anti-money laundering guidelines and the counter-terrorism guidelines part of our rules of professional conduct.
“We should take the lead in the fight against corruption. We should actually be the ones advising the EFCC, NFIU and all other agencies on how to deal with the issues of corruption.
The NBA President lamented that the EFCC’s directives represented a deviation from established protocols, as the agency was encroaching on the association’s autonomy.