May 26, (THEWILL) – The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has recovered part of the money stolen through the now-collapsed Crypto Bridge Exchange (CBEX), a digital investment platform that allegedly defrauded Nigerians of over N1.3 trillion.
CBEX collapsed earlier this year after users reported failed withdrawals and the sudden disappearance of account balances.
Speaking on Sunday during interview on TVC, EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, said arrests have been made in connection with the scheme and that efforts are ongoing to apprehend other suspects who are currently on the run.
He added that the EFCC had made significant progress in its investigation into the crypto scheme.
“We have gone far. We have made a reasonable arrest. We have also been able to recover a reasonable amount of money. We are not going to give out much because we don’t want the process to be disrupted. We are still after quite a number of people we have declared wanted”, he said.
Olukoyede noted the complexity of the investigation, explaining that although the funds were stolen via cryptocurrency, the agency was able to trace and recover a portion. However, converting the digital assets back to physical cash remains difficult due to the nature of crypto transactions.
“We are still investigating a lot of wallets and the wallets they created are called noncustodian wallets; in other words, no KYC. So, you can’t trace it to anybody. So, from the noncustodial wallet, they moved it to some wallets in Europe, Eastern Europe, particularly Cambodia and from there, they dispersed the money. We have been able to block some of these wallets where money has not been dispersed.
“That is to the extent that we have gone. I even learnt that there are still some of these perpetrators and Nigerians are still falling victim. I believe people should learn from this.
“Even though in the crypto wallet, the same way the money was taken from them. There is no way you will get them in dollars. There is no way you get the dollars in cash without necessarily going through the same process”, he said.
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