Expect massive prosecution of fraudsters —AGF

The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami, said on Wednesday that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission would soon embark on a massive prosecution of suspects found to be responsible for the instability of the naira against some foreign currencies.

The AGF said this while addressing journalists on the issues affecting the foreign exchange market in the country, at his office in Abuja.

Malami restated the resolve of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration to resist the call for the devaluation of the naira.

“In the exercise of the powers of my office and in consonance with the policy thrust of this administration, I have, therefore, directed the EFCC and other relevant security agencies to further investigate and confirm the information already available,” Malami said.

Responding to a question, Malami said investigations of the suspected foreign exchange suspects had been completed, adding that that the EFCC would embark on ‘massive prosecution’ soon.

“We have passed the stage of warning. We have passed the stage of investigation. We have gone far in terms of gathering the evidence. We are at the stage of embarking on massive prosecution,” Malami said.

Though the minister did not give the exact identities of the suspects, he said they included ‘regulators that are responsible for giving protection to the naira but have failed in their responsibilities and ended up protecting businessmen and other culprits involved in shady forex business’.

He said some of the ongoing sharp practices causing the instability of the naira included round-tripping of foreign exchange sourced from the inter-bank market, rendition of false foreign exchange utilisation data, non-repatriation of proceeds and use of foreign exchange for ineligible purposes.

He also linked the forex crisis to ‘consumption of foreign exchange transactions with inadequate, expired and or forged documents; and failure to report foreign exchange end users who default in the submission of required documents’.

He said the applicable law to prosecute the suspects included Banks and other Financial Institutions Act 1991 (as amended in 1997, 1998 and 2002); the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act 2011 and the Foreign Exchange Monitoring and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1995.

He said the priority of the Buhari administration included efforts aimed at diversification of the economy and promotion of ‘greater accountability within the system through the blocking of all revenue loopholes’ and ‘a robust asset-recovery process’.

He said, “In the light of the current economic realities, it clear to all objective and discerning observers that there is an urgent need to review our foreign market from the perspective of the degree of compliance with extant laws and regulations due to certain disturbing developments which increasingly are confirming the initial suspicion of government that the current state of the naira is not the result of neutral factors.

“On the contrary, and indeed on a very sad not, it is apparent that our national currency is being deliberately undermined by carefully-orchestrated criminal conspiracies and manipulation by unscrupulous elements hiding under the cloak of so-called ‘market forces’.”

The minister said while the crash of the naira against the dollar and other key foreign currencies could be ‘directly traceable to declining crude oil prices arising from a supply glut in the global oil market’, the nefarious speculative activities had exerted further pressure on naira exchange.

He said the speculative activities had ‘created a very wide artificial differential between the aforesaid two rates which are now being exploited by unscrupulous individuals and institutions’.

He said, “Accordingly, the differential has given rise to sharp practices and rent- seeking activities by these entities that run contrary to the various provisions of the laws governing the conduct of the foreign exchange market and our money-laundering regime.”