EFCC cautions NGOs against money laundering

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Tuesday cautioned the Non Profit Organisations to be careful of running foul of terrorism financing and money laundering Act of 2022.

An operative of the anti-graft agency, Monye Ekene, gave this warning while speaking at a regulatory compliance training organised by the Global Rights for the civil societies and Non Governmental Organisations operating in Ogun State.

Speaking on “Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing Terrorism”, Ekene, an Assistant Inspector with the EFCC, said that “NGO’s must therefore register with the Corporate Affairs Commission and must also possess the Special Control Unit Against Money Laundering certificate from the anti-graft commission as this will help them to domesticate the commission’s fight against all these criminal acts”.

He said that the law made it mandatory for the NGO’s to keep records of their donors and activities, screen their donors, board of Trustees and employees to ensure that they are not affliated with terrorists groups or being use to launder illicit funds.

Ekene also said that other provisions of the law require that the nonprofit organisations must report suspicious financial transactions and file quarterly and yearly reports to the EFCC, among others.

The EFCC also said that the SCUML certificate is free and therefore urged members of the public to stop paying as much as N1 m for what they could do from the corner of their rooms by logging into the website of the commission.

Ekene said that there are appropriate sanctions for any organisation that failed to do due diligence and was caught on the wrong side of the law.

Speaking with journalists at the event, the Programme Manager, Civil Space Strengthening, Global Rights, Mr Damilola Decker, reiterated the call for a more friendly and less cumbersome environment for the civil society organisations to thrive and be able to complement the government’s effort in building a more prosperous nation.

Decker explained that in as much as it is good to regulate the environment, the regulations should be done in such a way that they will discourage registration and duplicity of duties by multiple government agencies.