The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has vowed to beam its searchlight on fraudsters using real estate to launder their ill-gotten funds.
The anti-graft agency said it would take advantage of the revamped Money Laundering Act to probe money laundering using real estate.
An EFCC lawyer, Chris Mishela, made the disclosure while speaking with journalists during a training in Benin, Edo State.
According to him, the training was designed to keep journalists reporting on economic and financial crimes abreast of the framework of the new Money Laundering Act (Prevention and Prohibition) Act 2022 and the role they were expected to play.
“As it is, I am talking about Abuja, you see so many estates coming all over Abuja and more.
“The sources of these funds are unlawful; the funds are illegally gotten either from government or from international crime that is used to launder through estate business.
“So, EFCC is actually working to look into that dimension and the new money laundering Act has provided an opening for the government to look into the aspect of real estate as we have seen under the Act.
“Real estate is one of the designated and non-designated professions that is also under our obligation, under the establishment to do a full disclosure.
“It is an investigation that is going on; not that we have identified any specific entity to these proceeds of crime, but we are working to unravel what those areas are,” he said.
He stated that the new act makes it illegal to make cash or receive cash payment above N5 million.