By Audrey Lotechukwu
WED 17 MARCH, 2021-theGBJournal- The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has turned its searchlight on operators in the Nigerian financial as it intensifies fight against money laundering and illicit financial flow.
The Commission’s Chairman, Abdulrashed Bawa said Tuesday he expects all bankers to declare their assets latest June 1, an order which has caught many bankers unaware and scrambling to clean up their stable.
Bawa said the move which is pursuant to the Bank Employees, ETC. (Declaration of Assets) Act 1986, is part of measures to sanitize the nation’s financial system and block some of the loopholes currently being exploited by unscrupulous players in the sector to undermine Nigerian economy through money laundering and illicit financial flows.
Section 1 of the Bank Employees, ETC. (Declaration of Assets) Act 1986 make its mandatory for every employee of a bank to make full disclosure of assets upon employment, and annually in subsequent years.
The law under Section 7 (1) stipulates that ‘’it shall be an offence for an employee of a bank to own assets in excess of his legitimate known and provable income.’’
The penalty for violation of the Act, as spelt out in section 7 (2) includes imprisonment for a term of ten years. The Act also says ‘’Any employee guilty of an offence under subsection (1) of this Section shall on conviction be liable to imprisonment for ten years and shall, in addition, forfeit the excess assets or its equivalent in money to the Federal Government.’’
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