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Nigeria tackles 419 scammers
03/11/2003 13:26 - (SA)
Toye Olori
Lagos - Nigeria is clamping down on money launderers and "419" email scam artists who have earned the country international notoriety as Africa's fraud capital.
"Money laundering is particularly heinous because it has contributed to a less than impeccable image [for Nigeria]," said Nigerian vice president Atiku Abubakar.
"The task of cleansing this image involve[s] tackling the monster of narcotics trafficking and its attendant tentacles of advance fee fraud, money laundering and human trafficking."
He said Nigeria had recently had significant successes against drug syndicates and would now concentrate on financial crimes such as advance fee fraud, more commonly known as 419 scams.
"The country must intensify the war against money laundering," said Abubakar, stressing that investigators would use sweeping new powers granted in May 2003 by the Money Laundering Prohibition Act.
Money laundering is used by crime syndicates to disguise the source of their income. Both Nigerian and international syndicates, investigators claim, regularly illegally transfer money through Nigerian banks, to obscure their involvement in drug and financial crimes, including 419 scams.
The 419 scams mutate constantly, with some of the latest most sophisticated examples using the names of South African government ministers and senior civil servants to lure 'investors'.
The scams, which rely on email, claim the ministers need the temporary use of your bank account to siphon massive sums of money out of the country. Participants are promised a commission on the amount, and are referred to legitimate government websites as 'proof' that the offer is genuine.
Victims who fall for the scam, however, have their bank accounts cleaned out or are even held hostage by the fraudsters.
John Ndukuba, a lawyer who recently helped prosecute a Nigerian 419 scheme kingpin, claims "it runs into billions of dollars, but is hardly reported by the victims because of (the) fear of reprisals".
Ndukuba said even victims who do go to the police are likely to understate the extent of their losses.
Nigeria's Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) assistant director Jonah Achema concurs.
"It goes beyond money. It extends to assets. It is a multifaceted crime which includes proceeds from prostitution, drugs, tax evasion, corruption and embezzlement," said Achema.
The new Money Laundering Prohibition Act forces banks to report all financial transactions larger than $10 000
"Banks that fail to report dodgy transactions can now be prosecuted, and even have their licences revoked," explains Achema.
The newly established Economic & Financial Crimes Commission has already arrested 32 people implicated in 419 scams, and frozen all their assets.
"Twenty seven of these suspects are being held behind bars during their trials. In addition, we've brought 11 victims of 419 scams to Nigeria to testify against fraudsters," said commission chair Nuhu Ribadu.
"Without their co-operation, we cannot prosecute. So, though the victims could be said to be greedy, [greed] is not a crime ... and we treat the victims nicely."
The victims come from the United Kingdom, Hong Kong and Germany.
- Inter Press Service
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