The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has issued a stern warning to Point of Sale (POS) operators across Nigeria against aiding fraudsters and money launderers in the commission of financial crimes.
The warning was delivered on Thursday by EFCC Chairman Ola Olukoyede when a delegation of the Association of Mobile Money and Bank Agents in Nigeria (AMMBAN), led by its National President Oti Obioha, paid a courtesy visit to the Commission’s headquarters in Abuja.
Speaking through his Chief of Staff, Commander Michael Nzekwe, the EFCC Chairman expressed concern over the growing involvement of POS machines in illicit transactions, including money laundering, terrorist financing, and ransom payments.
“We have realized that the issues of money laundering, terrorist financing, and even ransom payments are made mostly from POS machines,” Nzekwe stated, quoting Olukoyede.
He urged AMMBAN to strengthen its internal structure and develop a comprehensive framework for monitoring its members. “Your association needs to do more, by coming up with a structure and a comprehensive framework that will have records of all your operators, so that during the course of investigation, we will be able to trace, monitor and have records that can aid us.”
Olukoyede further highlighted the need for increased awareness and training among POS operators, noting that some operators are allegedly complicit in fraudulent activities. “There are even some POS operators who are actually fraudsters; they aid, conspire, give out information and abet fraudsters,” he said.
The EFCC called on the association and its members to collaborate more closely with the Commission in sanitising the sector and preventing the misuse of POS platforms for criminal purposes.