EFCC Traces Funds From Collapsed CBEX Crypto Scheme To Four Countries

• EFCC is investigating the Crypto Bridge Exchange (CBEX) scheme.
• Proceeds from CBEX have been traced to at least four different countries.
• EFCC Chairman Ola Olukoyede discussed the challenges of refunding victims during a recent interview.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has traced proceeds from the now-defunct Crypto Bridge Exchange (CBEX) scheme to at least four different countries, raising major concerns about the possibility of fully refunding victims.

EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, revealed this during an interview on Politics Today, a Channels Television program aired on Wednesday. He explained that while the Commission has successfully frozen multiple accounts and seized some funds, the international scope of the scheme presents serious recovery challenges.

“We have been able to block some accounts. We have been able to freeze some funds, which I will not be able to give you a figure, but some reasonable amount of funds, we have been able to freeze,” Olukoyede stated.

He went on to highlight that many of the illegal transactions took place via cryptocurrency wallets operated outside Nigeria, making them inaccessible to the EFCC.

“I will not sit down and tell you that we are going to restore every victim. It will become practically impossible because quite a certain amount of money has been dissipated and not within our system,” he said.

Olukoyede added that the main perpetrators of the scam are foreign nationals. He noted that the EFCC is working with international law enforcement partners to recover assets and track down those responsible.

According to the EFCC chairman, three suspects are currently in custody and cooperating with investigators. Their statements have reportedly offered key insights into the broader investigation.