EFCC raid Dangote office, probe 51 other companies over forex transactions

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has stormed the head office of Dangote Group in Lagos and asked for documents on their foreign exchange transactions in the last decade.

The EFCC operatives raided the head office of Dangote Group in Lagos on Monday and demanded documents on their forex transactions in the past 10 years.

Operatives of the EFCC who raided the Dangote office ransacked offices and carted away several financial documents related to forex allocations to the group from 2014 to June 2023, when Emefiele was suspended from office by President Bola Tinubu.

Other companies under investigation include BUA Group and Flour Mills, among others. They have all denied any wrongdoing and claimed that they complied with the CBN regulations and directives.

According to The PUNCH, the anti-graft commission had earlier written to the 52 companies directing them to provide documents supporting the allocation and utilisation of foreign exchange sold to them at official rates in the last 10 years.

The EFCC had asked the firms to submit Form A and Form M which detailed the forex allocations to them between 2014 and June 2023.

But while some companies complied with the directive, several others were said to have asked for time to get the proper documents.

The PUNCH also quoted a top EFCC official saying that the EFCC was probing the preferential foreign exchange allocations allegedly made by Emefiele in defiance of extant financial rules and regulations and the CBN Act.

The official claimed, “The EFCC is investigating the Dangote Group over the preferential foreign exchange allocations made by the former CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele in defiance of extant financial rules and regulations and in disregard to the CBN Act.

“There are about 51 other big companies under probe over the development too, and the commission discovered that the allocations were not approved by the former President Muhammadu Buhari, so it was more of a means for the former CBN governor and his cronies to launder money through forex and Bureau De Change operators.”