EFCC hands over 53 recovered vehicles, $180,300 to Canadian police

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has handed over $180,300 recovered funds to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

The commission also said 53 vehicles stolen from Canada and brought into Nigeria were recovered nationwide have been handed over to the Canadian police.

At the handover ceremony on Friday, Ola Olukoyode, EFCC chairman, said the recovered assets—which were stolen by wire fraud and romance scam—would be returned to the victims.

Out of the total sum, $164,000 was reportedly stolen from Elena Bogomas, a Canadian national, in a romance scam, while $16,300 was from one Sandra Butler.

“It is common knowledge that financial crimes have taken a new turn all across the globe. It has become a global problem,” Olukoyode said.

“What affects one country in a matter of time, will affect other countries. The people who perpetrate these crimes, they do it in such a way that we discover that their activities are quite borderless and boundless.

“They employ all kinds of means to ensure that they move across various jurisdictions. That’s why it has become very necessary and imperative for us to collaborate with our friends across the world. People share the same objective and mandate with us.

“The Canadian royal mounted police has been collaborating with us and the demonstration of that collaboration has resulted in a lot of recoveries.

“As an agency and as a country, we are always ready to fight financial crime. Nigeria shouldn’t be seen as a hub. It is also to demonstrate that the government of Nigeria will never tolerate acts of financial crimes.

“We have recovered money, financial assets, and also we have recovered vehicles on behalf of the victims in Canada. As a matter of fact, a total of 53 vehicles were recovered on behalf of the victims. Also, in one instance, we had $164,000 U.S. dollars given to a Canadian victim known as Eleanor Bogomas. And also, we have here,  another sum of $16,000 U.S. dollars stolen from another victim known as Sandra Butler.”

Nasser Sadiou, liaison officer, Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Robert Aboumitri, first secretary of the Deputy High Commission of Canada, were present at the event.