INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Through Business Email Compromise
Money or Value Transfer Services in the Context of the
AML/CFT Framework
4
Cyber Fraud Prevention and Security Tips
5
NFIU Activities in Numbers 7
NYSC Anti Corruption Group
Honours NFIU Director,
Modibbo HammanTukur
13
Tukur commends INTERPOL for deploying technology to help secure Nigeria, West
Africa
14
GIABA approves evaluation of Sierra Leone
14
NFIU deploys CRIMS to Crime
Fighting Agencies
15
NFIU NEWSLETTER
J U L Y — D E C E M B E R 2 0 2 0 V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 2
Money Laundering & Terrorist Financing Through Business Email Compromise (BEC)
In 2020, the NFIU produced various strategic products to advise Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs), Regulatory/Supervisory Authorities and
other AML/CFT stakeholder agencies to adopt a risk-based approach in mitigating the emerging ML/TF risks. In this article, our focus is on
Business Email Compromise (BEC) which has resulted in record global losses amounting to billions of dollars.
From the Director/CEO’s Desk C
OV
ER
Source: www.csmfo.org
As the world continues to adjust to a new nor-
mal in the age of COVID-19, the Nigeria AML/
CFT regime has successfully adapted to the
changing environment in which we find our-
selves. New threats and risks have emerged,
however new opportunities have also come to
the fore.
Looking back over the past 12 months, I am
proud of the work that the NFIU and indeed all
stakeholders have managed to get done in this
difficult period.
The end of year is always a period for reflection,
to assess our successes and learn from our fail-
ures. In the last year, we have faced lockdowns
and partial closures, restrictions of movement
and travel which are particularly important for
an international facing institution such as the
NFIU and a general slowdown in the economy.
Through this all, reporting institutions have con-
tinued to make disclosures, the NFIU has contin-
ued to generate intelligence, and investigations
and prosecutions have not stopped.
We have also continued to leverage technology
in order to improve the speed and efficiency
with which we support our stakeholders. We
have continued to play an important interna-
tional role as members of GIABA and the Eg-
mont Group.
As we look forward to the end of the pandemic
and a return to a more familiar operating envi-
ronment, we will not lose the lessons we have
learnt through this period. Through this news-
letter and our engagements with stakeholders,
in person and virtual, we will improve our feed-
back and work towards a safer more secure
Nigeria.
Money Laundering & Terrorist Financing Through Business Email
Compromise (BEC)
According to the United States Federal Bureau of In-
vestigations (FBI) (2019), between June 2016 and July
2019, global Business Email Compromise/Email Ac-
count Compromise (BEC/EAC) losses totalled over $26
billion. These losses occurred in 166,349 separate inci-
dents across 177 different countries/jurisdictions1.
BEC/EAC is a classic fraud typology that targets both
businesses and individuals who perform legitimate
transfer-of-funds requests. The scam is frequently car-
ried out when a criminal compromises legitimate busi-
ness or personal email accounts through social engi-
neering or computer intrusion with an intention for
financial advantages.
In this report, a quantitative method of analysis was
employed by analysing statistics related to Business
Email Compromise from international requests for
information received by the NFIU.
Findings
From January 2019 to September 2020, forty-seven
(47) requests containing a total of seventy (70) sub-
jects of interest were received by the NFIU. The USA
sent the most requests with a total of fifty-six (56) sub-
jects involved. Requests were also received from Leb-
anon (4), UK (3), Germany (2), Philippines (2), Austral-
ia (1) and Peru (1).
FBI (2019) reports that the USA has been greatly hit by
BEC scams and identified over $12 billion in potential
losses from over 78,000 reported incidents of BEC
fraud, during a recent five-year period (October 2013
to July 2019), involving victims domestically and inter-
nationally2.
The monetary value in the international requests re-
ceived by the NFIU amounted to Eighty-Five Million, Nine Hun-
dred and Forty-Two Thousand, Seven Hundred and Ninety-Five
Dollars Forty-Three Cents ($85,942,795.43). Through the NFIU’s
efforts a total of Four Million, Six Hundred and Seventy-Five
Thousand, Seven Hundred and Nine Dollars, Twenty-Four Cents
($4,675,709.24) has been recovered, amounting to 5% of the total
value in the requests. However, it is important to note that recov-
ery efforts by the NFIU and other competent authorities are still
ongoing.
Rate of Recovery
Most Vulnerable Sectors Susceptible to BEC Scam based on
International requests received by NFIU
1Available on https://www.tripwire.com/state-of-security/security-data-protection/bec-scams-cost-victims-26b-over-a-three-year-period-finds-fbi/ 2Available on https://www.ic3.gov/Media/Y2019/PSA190910
2
Money Laundering & Terrorist Financing Through Business Email Compromise (BEC)
and artificial intelligence for post-delivery protection to
monitor email network systems for malicious emails.
Implement Security Awareness Training and Phishing
Simulation to staff.
Implement a strong identity management and account
system which can serve as a proactive measure to stop
attackers from gaining access to accounts of individuals.
Possible Solutions to Mitigate BEC Related Crimes in the
Financial and Non-Financial Institutions
During the mandatory rendition of STRs and SARs in ac-
cordance with section 6 of the MLPA, Financial and Non-
Financial Institutions should incorporate all relevant in-
formation available, especially the use of key terms like;
“BEC or EAC fraud” including all pertinent cyber-related
information.
The NFIU encourages all institutions to adopt a multi-
faceted transaction verification process within their risk
management approach, as well as training and aware-
ness-building to identify and avoid spear phishing
schemes.
Financial and Non- Financial institutions should adopt a
rapid information sharing system in providing transaction
details and cyber-related information surrounding BEC
scheme when requesting assistance in recovering funds.
The NFIU continues to encourage financial and Non-
Financial institutions collaboration among AML/CFT units
and other relevant units that can assist financial institu-
tions to identify, prevent and report relevant red flags/
indicators and other information related to cyber fraud.
Funds suspected to be proceeds of BEC or cyber fraud
should be initially blocked upon receipt from high-risk
jurisdictions to stop movement pending further actions
before freezing or clearance.
TRENDS AND PATTERNS OF MONEY LAUNDERING FROM IN-TERNATIONAL REQUESTS ON BEC RELATED CRIME BEC Fraud: When Businesses and Organizations Are the Schemed Victims
An attorney is contracted by a new client to handle an off-
shore lease; the client then issued a counterfeit check to
the attorney with instruction to wire transfer part of the
funds. The cheque eventually bounced leaving the attorney
with an overdrawn account.
An unknown individual contacted a law firm via email, and
stated they needed help with an employee settlement. It
was explained they needed assistance from the law firm to
wire funds. An official cheque was mailed to the law firm,
the law firm then wired the money to a correspondent
bank for beneficiary through a Nigerian bank, the cheque
turned out to be counterfeit.
A company’s corporate email was hacked, where mails
were sent to their clients which directed them to submit
payment to bank accounts controlled by the subjects, who
happen to be Nigerians.
EAC: When Individuals Are the Schemed Victims
A victim received a fraudulent email with altered payment
instructions to an account in the victim’s jurisdiction be-
fore subsequently transferring to Nigeria.
Possible Solutions to Mitigate BEC Related Crimes in Vulnera-
ble Agencies and Organizations
Entities should adopt a multi-faceted approach in securing
email gateways. This acts as a firewall for all email commu-
nications, thereby stopping spam, malware and viruses
from being delivered to users via email.
Agencies should adopt the use of machine learning tools
How BEC works
Source:Trendmicro.com
3
Money or Value Transfer Services in the Context of
the AML/CFT Framework After the events of September 11, 2011 in the
United States of America, countries moved to-
wards the regulation of the Money or Value
Transfer Services (MVTS) industry, because of its
role in facilitating Money Laundering and Terror-
ist Financing (ML/TF). According to the Financial
Action Task Force (FATF), MVTS refers to financial
services that involve the acceptance of cash,
cheques, other monetary instruments or other
stores of value and the payment of a correspond-
ing sum in cash or other form to a beneficiary by
a communication, message, transfer or through a
clearing network to which the MVTS provider
belongs. Transactions performed by such ser-
vices can involve one or more intermediaries and
a final payment to a third party, and may include
any new payment methods.
The main feature of MVTS is that it is cheaper
and faster to transmit money to the beneficiary
unlike domestic and international wire transfer
which has more bank charges and might take
several days to process. It is also dynamic and
flexible as it has no set rules. For example, the
payment method changes depending on the ju-
risdiction; however, it includes cash, cheque,
money order, pay-out cards, mobile wallet, bank
deposit or several combinations of the products.
The FATF (2012) Recommendation 14 provides
that countries should take measures to ensure
that natural or legal persons that provide MVTS
are licensed or registered and subject to effective
systems for monitoring and compliance. Similar-
ly, the Central Bank of Nigeria Guidelines for the
Operation of International Money Transfer Ser-
vices (IMTS) states that no person or institution
shall operate international money transfer ser-
vices unless such person/institution has been
licensed by the CBN and maintain accurate infor-
mation on each transaction.
However, unlicensed or informal money transfer
operators still provide alternative channels through
which monies are sent and received all over the
world including Nigeria. This usually involves the use
of underground banking channels where the transac-
tions are settled by offsetting the equivalent sum at
the receiving location. It begins with a transfer re-
quest by the sender at his or her location (country).
The sender provides the funds to the money service
agent for subsequent remittance to the beneficiary
in another country. The money service agent trans-
fers value to the beneficiary through one or series of
network correspondents. In some cases, the actual
movement of funds are not required for value to be
received by the beneficiary. These services have ties
to particular geographic regions and are described
using a variety of specific terms, including hawala,
hundi and fei-chen.
The informal money remittance system has re-
mained a convenient medium for international ter-
rorism financing. Meanwhile, the formal or licensed
MVTS are also deficient in proper book keeping, Cus-
tomer Due Diligence (CDD) and reporting of suspi-
cious transactions. The Guidance for a Risk-Based
Approach (RBA) on MVTS by FATF (2012) Recom-
mendation 1 provides that countries are expected to
identify, assess and understand the Money Launder-
ing and Terrorist Financing risks they are exposed to
and take measures to mitigate those risks. Thus, Fi-
nancial Institutions must ensure and implement risk-
based AML/CFT policies and procedures that remain
proportionate with the ML/TF risks and relevant to
the size and complexity of the institution, services
offered, and customer types.
Alternative remittance system thrive more in a cash
or commodity-oriented economy, and to further
minimize ML/TF risks in informal money remittance,
Nigeria should intensify efforts in its financial inclu-
sion policy to reduce the number of unbanked citi-
zens.
The Central Bank of
Nigeria Guidelines
for the Operation of
International Mon-
ey Transfer Services
(IMTS) states that
no person or insti-
tution shall operate
international mon-
ey transfer services
unless such person/
institution has been
licensed by the CBN
and maintain accu-
rate information on
each transaction.
The Guidance for a Risk-Based Ap-proach (RBA) on MVTS by FATF (2012) Recommen-dation 1 provides that countries are expected to identi-fy, assess and un-derstand the Mon-ey Laundering and Terrorist Financing risks they are ex-posed to and take measures to miti-gate those risks.
4
one cyber threat faced in Nigeria.
It is now common place in Nigeria, for people to get called by
these cybercriminals who claim to be from your bank but then
request that you tell them sensitive details from your ATM
card, a One Time Password, etc. In addition to impersonating
trusted organizations or individuals, cyber criminals have mas-
tered the art of stirring emotions such as fear, anxiety and
greed, consequently altering the victim’s good sense of judge-
ment.
When you experience any of these emotions or you are being
compelled to take an action urgently in a phone conversation
with a stranger, or in an unsolicited email or text message, re-
sist the urge to act immediately. Stop and think before you click
that link or provide any information to someone over the
phone. Use a service like virustotal.com to verify a link or
attachment is safe. Never share sensitive information with any-
one over the phone, because your bank will never call to ask
you for your BVN, CVV, the full long number across your bank
card, OTP or internet banking password.
INVESTMENT, EMPLOYMENT AND CRYPTO/FOREX MULTI-
LEVEL MARKETING SCAMS
Cyber criminals understand people’s need to survive this pan-
demic. For people who find making quick money appealing,
cybercriminals are now setting up ponzi schemes and tricking
people into making investments with unrealistic Return on In-
vestments. These investments or crypto/forex multi-level mar-
keting scams are usually propagated via social media and are
operated in such a way that the testimonials shared on these
Few weeks ago, I received an unsettling call from my friend
who works for a globally recognized multinational; for the pur-
pose of this article, we’ll call her Miss A. Miss A had tried to
add a new beneficiary to her bank account the previous day
but was unsuccessful, so she put her phone aside and contin-
ued with the activities for the day. Coincidentally, the next day,
she received an email that seemed to be from her bank, advis-
ing her that a new beneficiary had been added to her account,
presenting the name and other details of this beneficiary, as
well as a link to take action if she doesn’t recognize the benefi-
ciary. Miss A panicked when she didn’t recognize the new ben-
eficiary, so she clicked the link without giving it a second
thought. The link led to a website that looked just like her
bank’s website and she entered her banking login details, from
there on things got really ugly; her computing device got in-
fected with a malware, she lost money and more.
What Miss A experienced is one of several ways’ cyber fraud
attacks are happening in Nigeria, so if you are reading this arti-
cle, you are in luck! In this article, I will highlight the top five
cyber fraud threats faced by the average person in Nigeria and
how you can protect yourself.
SOCIAL ENGINEERING (PHISHING, SMISHING AND VISHING)
Why go through the hassle of hacking a computer when you
can hack a human? This is the philosophy of a cybercriminal
that uses social engineering to commit cyberfraud. Social engi-
neering involves a cybercriminal manipulating people, often by
impersonating trusted organizations, so they give up confiden-
tial information such as passwords, bank information, debit
card details, etc. The story I started this article with, is a classic
example of social engineering attack This cyber fraud attack
often perpetuated over text, phone or email, is the number
By Confidence Staveley
OPINION
Source: courtesy Rogatnev/bigstockphoto.com
Source: Cybersafe Foundation
5
Cyber Fraud Prevention and Security Tips
platforms are either fake or the scheme just
works for a very short time to drive word of
mouth growth and referrals. Every now and
again, we have a new fraudulent scheme or or-
ganization that defrauds people online and disap-
pears into thin air as they typically do not have
physical office address. If a self-acclaimed invest-
ment company organization presents an invest-
ment opportunity but are not recognized by The
Securities and Exchange Commission in Nigeria,
please do not invest.
Employment scams are also a thing. Fraudsters
target job seekers like young graduates with bo-
gus job opportunities that they need to pay to
qualify for. No well-meaning organization will ask
applicants to pay money to get a job.
MALWARE
A malware is a harmful piece of code, designed
by cyber attackers to cause damage to a compu-
ting device, data or systems. For example, bank-
ing trojans are used by cybercriminals to steal
money, usually by searching for users’ creden-
tials for e-payment and online banking systems,
hijacking one-time passwords, and then passing
that data to the attackers.
You can protect yourself from this type of attack
by using a good and licensed anti-virus, refraining
from opening attachments or links in unsolicited
emails or downloading applications outside the
official app store for your device.
IDENTITY THEFT
As internet adoption increased across Nigeria,
cyber fraud perpetuated by means of identity
theft has become very common place. For exam-
ple, there has been a spike in the number of,
WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook accounts that
are being hijacked by cybercriminals and used to
spread investment scams, extort victims, black-
mail or defraud friends and family of the victim.
Protect yourself by, choosing strong passwords
that are unique per online account, contain up-
per- and lower-case alphabets, contain special
characters and are at least 8 characters long. It’s
also very important that you turn on 2 Factor
Authentication for all your online accounts, to
provide extra layer of security. If you receive a
call from anybody, requesting for any code from your
phone (usually a one-time password), do not share it.
COVID-19 RELIEF SCAMS As the government seeks to support the most vulner-
able in our society in these trying times, cybercrimi-
nals are also riding on the wave of this pandemic to
defraud people, using bait like fake COVID-19 relief
funds. These harmful links that have been created to
harvest sensitive information about people have
been spreading on social media. It is important that
you only apply for funding and relief opportunities
through government approved websites; usually
these websites will have a green padlock at the top
left corner of the address bar, signifying the website
will transmit your information securely. A genuine
government website will also have an address that
ends with .gov.ng. Fraudsters often disguise the
harmful COVID-19 relieve scam links using URL short-
eners so people cannot tell if its legitimate. Beat
them to their game by lengthening the shortened
web address using a service like checkshorturl.com;
but do not click the link till you have determined its
legitimacy.
The lack of knowledge of these cyber fraud threats
has remained a top reason why people still become
victims of cyber fraud. This is the reason I established
Cybersafe Foundation, a non-governmental organiza-
tion facilitating pockets of changes to make the inter-
net safer for people resident in Nigeria. We share a
lot of resources to educate the public on online safe-
ty issues on our website https://
cybersafefoundation.org/
Connect with us on social media to learn more about
cyber safety.
Confidence Staveley
(Founder Cybersafe Foundation and Top 50 Women
in Cybersecurity Africa)
https://cybersafefoundation.org/
Protect yourself
by, choosing strong
passwords that are
unique per online
account, contain
upper- and lower-
case alphabets,
contain special
characters and are
at least 8 charac-
ters long. It’s also
very important
that you turn on 2
Factor Authentica-
tion for all your
online accounts, to
provide extra layer
of security.
*The views expressed herein are those of the author
and do not necessarily represent the views of the
NFIU
A malware is a
harmful piece of
code, designed by
cyber attackers to
cause damage to a
computing device,
data or systems…
...protect yourself
from this type of
attack by using a
good and licensed
anti-virus, refrain-
ing from opening
attachments or
links in unsolicited
emails or down-
loading applications
outside the official
app store for your
device.
6
NFIU Activities in Numbers
STATISTICS FOR THE SECOND HALF OF 2020
7
Half Year Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs) Jul – Dec 2020
SN Agency Type Processed Rejected Total % of Rejected
1 Banks 16,894 2,205 19,099 11.55
2 Insurance Companies 3,129 108 3,237 3.34
3 Stock brokers 1,042 89 1,131 7.87
4 Asset Management Companies 1,039 122 1,161 10.51
5 Primary Mortgage Institutions 816 25 841 2.97
6 Insurance Brokers 442 26 468 5.56
7 Merchant Banks 405 126 531 23.73
8 Financial Institutions 280 26 306 8.50
9 Finance Companies 77 3 80 3.75
10 Development Financial Institutions 54 0 54 0.00
11 Microfinance Banks 7 6 13 46.15
12 Issuing Houses 6 9 15 60.00
13 Trustees 6 2 8 25.00
14 Other Financial Institutions 2 0 2 0.00
15 Bureau De Change 1 0 1 0.00
Total 24,200 2,747 26,947
8
Half Year Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs) Jul – Dec 2020
SN Agency Type Processed Rejected Total % of Rejected
1 Banks 8,308 311 8,619 3.61
2 Insurance Companies 42 47 89 52.81
3 Primary Mortgage Institutions 20 15 35 42.86
4 Issuing Houses 18 0 18 0.00
5 Finance Companies 7 0 7 0.00
6 Stock Brokers 6 11 17 64.71
7 Asset Management Companies 3 7 10 70.00
8 Insurance Brokers 3 0 3 0.00
9 Development Financial Institutions 1 0 1 0.00
10 Financial Institutions 1 0 1 0.00
11 Merchant Banks 1 2 3 66.67
12 Microfinance Banks 1 0 1 0.00
13 Other Financial Institutions 1 0 1 0.00
14 Bureau De Change 0 0 0 0.00
15 Trustees 0 0 0 0.00
TOTAL 8,412 393 8,805
CTRs Count & Value Jul – Dec 2020
SN Agency Type Trans Count Trans Value (N)
1. Banks 4,953,158 260,689,488,584,144
2. Merchant Banks 38,462 9,603,651,995,257
3. Asset Management Companies 12,182 691,842,881,444
4. Primary Mortgage Institutions 5,668 132,319,019,434
5. Insurance Companies 4,343 158,964,294,355
6. Stock brokers 2,423 104,243,454,303
7. Insurance Brokers 452 27,262,269,423
8. Financial Institutions 280 13,781,539,332
9. Finance Companies 77 4,924,962,668
10. Development Financial Institutions 54 18,311,573,884
11. Trustees 21 849,637,478
12. Microfinance Banks 7 1,892,789,101
13. Issuing Houses 6 100,250,375
14. Other Financial Institutions 2 53,603,123
15. Bureau De Change 1 37,000,000
Total 5,017,136 271,447,723,854,320
STRs Count & Value Jul – Dec 2020
SN Agency Type Trans Count Trans Value (N)
1. Banks 8,401 712,932,654,677
2. Issuing Houses 98 3,931,227,259
3. Insurance Companies 44 1,273,071,666
4. Primary Mortgage Institutions 20 159,409,000
5. Finance Companies 7 837,500,000
6. Stock brokers 6 239,187,465
7. Asset Management Companies 3 199,380,000
8. Insurance Brokers 3 66,014,488
9. Merchant Banks 1 3,810,000
10. Financial Institutions 1 10,000,000
11. Development Financial Institutions 1 17,000,000
12. Microfinance Banks 1 20,000,000
13. Other Financial Institutions 1 25,500,000
14. Trustees 0 0
15. Bureau De Change 0 0
Total 8,587 719,714,754,555
9
10
Submission Statistics (Transaction Count and Value)* CTR STR
Transactions Processed Rejected Processed Rejected
Trans Count 5,017,134 728,940 8,476 739
Trans Value (₦) 271,447,670,251,199 37,956,703,598,927 714,824,512,808 53,612,232,012
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) Count Jul - Dec 2019 & 2020
SN Agency Business Trans Count Jul-Dec 2019 Trans Count Jul - Dec 2020 % Change
1 Banks 3,929.00 4,903.00 24.79
2 Insurance Companies 80 69 (13.75)
3 Digital Currency 17 51 200
4 E-Payment Platforms 5 25 400
5 Merchant Banks 3 1 (66.66)
6 Bureau De Change 1 0 (100)
7 Capital Market Operators 1 0 (100)
8 Asset Management Companies 0 1 Nil
Total Number 4,036.00 5,050.00 25.12
Based on the above table, there is an increase in Suspicious Activity Report received across Asset Management Companies, Digital Currency and E-payment platforms in last Half of 2020 compared to last Half of 2019. Decline in suspicious activity reports was observed in Bureau De Change, Insurance Companies, Merchant Banks and Capital
Market Operators in last Half of 2020 compared to last Half of 2019. Overall increase of 25.12% in suspicious Activi-ty reports was observed in the last Half of 2020 compared to last Half of 2019
Half Year Currency Transaction Reports (CTRs) Comparison For 2019 & 2020
SN Agency Business Jul-Dec 2019 Trans Count Jul-Dec 2020 Trans Count % Change
1 Banks 3,546,472 4,953,158 39.66
2 Merchant Banks 15,251 38,462 152.19
3 Asset Management Companies 8,445 12,182 44.25
4 Primary Mortgage Institutions 9,620 5,668 (41.08)
5 Insurance Companies 3,618 4,343 20.04
6 Stock Brokers 1,827 2,423 32.62
7 Insurance Brokers 64 452 (2.59)
Financial Institutions 274 280 2.19
8 Finance Companies 10 77 670.00
9 Development Financial Institutions 86 54 (37.20)
10 Trustee - 21 2,100
11 Micro Finance Banks - 7 700
Issuing Houses 272 6 (97.79)
12 Bureau De Change - 1 100
Other Financial Institutions 1 - (100)
Total Transaction Count 3,586,340 5,017,134 39.90
Total Value(N) 190,389,645,849,134.00 271,447,670,251,199.00 42.57
Based on the table above, it is observed that there is an increase in currency transaction received from Asset Manage-ment companies, Banks, Finance Companies, Financial Institutions, Insurance Companies and Merchant Banks in Sec-ond half of 2020 compared second half of 2019. Micro Finance and Trustee did not file any report in last half of 2019
while they filed 7 and 21 CTR’s in last half of 2020. Overall, there is an increase in CTR received in the last Half of 2020
11
Half Year Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs) For 2019 & 2020
SN Agency Business Jul-Dec 2019 Trans Count Jul-Dec 2020 Trans Count % Change
1 Banks 5,332 8,401 57.55
2 Insurance Companies 66 44 (33.33)
3 Primary Mortgage Institutions 7 20 185.71
4 Stock Brokers 1 6 500
5 Asset Management Companies 4 3 (25)
6 Merchant Banks 15 1 (93.33)
7 Development Finance Institutions 0 1 Nil
8 Insurance Brokers 2 0 (100)
9 Issuing Houses 1 0 (100)
Total Number 5,428 8,476 56.15
Total Value (N) 137,044,552,719 714,824,512,808 421.60
Based on the table above, a major increase Suspicious Transactions Reports filed to the NFIU was observed across, Banks, Development Financial Institutions, Primary Mortgage Institutions and Stock Brokers in the last Half 0f 2020
compared to last Half of 2019. However, a decline in Suspicious Transactions was observed in the areas of Asset Man-agement Companies, Insurance Brokers, Issuing Houses, Insurance companies and Merchant Banks in the last Half of 2020 compared to last Half of 2019. Overall, there is an increase in suspicious transaction reports in the last half of
2020 compared to last half of 2019 by 56.15%
Half Year Intelligence Reports Disseminated
SN Predicate Offence Jul-Dec 2019 Trans Count Jul-Dec 2020 Trans
Count Difference
1 Fraud 61 139 78
2 Money Laundering 2 58 56
3 Corruption 109 57 -52
4 Tax Evasion 13 41 28
5 Terrorist Financing 26 8 -18
6 Illegal Oil Bunkering 0 7 7
7 Theft/Robbery 1 6 5
8 Illegal Wild Life Trade/Trafficking 0 5 5
9 Fraud (419) 4 2 -2
10 Drug Trafficking 6 1 -5
11 Human Trafficking/Prostitution 3 0 -3
12 Smuggling 2 0 -2
13 Treason 2 0 -2
14 Kidnapping 2 0 -2
15 National Security 1 0 -1
Total Dissemination 232 324 92
Based on the above table,there is a major decline in intelligence desseminated on Corruption, Terrorist Financing, Drug Trafficking, Human Trafficking, Smugling, Treason, Kidnaping and National Security in the last half of 2020 compard to last half of 2019. However, there was a major increase in intelligence desiminated on Fraud,Money Laundry, Tax Evasion, Oil Bunkering, Rubbery and Illegal wildlife trade/Trafficking in the last half of 2020 com-pared to last half of 2019. This could be attributed to the lock down due to COVID-19. Overall, the intelligence
dessiminated in the last half of 2020 has increased by 92 reports compared to the last half of 2019.
12
Half Year Sector Domestic Request for Information Received For 2019 & 2020
SN Agency/Institution No of Request Jul -Dec
2019 No of Request Jul-Dec
2020 Difference
1 Security Agencies 23 7 -16
2 Law Enforcement Agencies 131 149 18
3 Judiciary 2 14 12
4 Legislative Authority 0 1 1
5 Other Competent Authorities 44 42 -2
Total Request for Information Received 200 213 13
Based on the above table, the number of request for information received from Security Agencies and Other competent Authorities have declined in the last Half of 2020 compared to the last Half of 2019. However, the request for infor-
mation received across Law Enforcement, Judiciary and legislative sectors have increased in the last Half 0f 2020 com-pared to last Half of 2019. Overall, there is an increase in request for information received in the last Half of 2020 by 13
compared to the last Half of 2019.
Half Year Outgoing Foreign Requests for Information Jul—Dec 2019 & 2020
SN Countries Number of Request Jul
- Dec 2019 Number of Request Jul - Dec
2020 Difference
1 FIC-S/AFRICA 2 1 -1
2 JFIU-HONGKONG 2 0 -2
3 FIU UK 7 1 -6
4 UAE-FIU 7 0 -7
5 SEPBLAC-SPAIN 1 0 -1
6 SIC-LEBANON 2 0 -2
7 AUSTRAC-AUSTRALIA 3 0 -3
8 FINTRAC-CANADA 2 0 -2
9 FIU GERMANY 2 0 -2
10 FINCEN-USA 16 2 -14
11 FIU-MAURITIUS 1 1 0
12 SEYCHELLES-FIU 1 0 -1
13 CENTIF-NIGER 1 0 -1
14 FIU-CYPRUS 3 0 -3
15 FIU KOREA 1 0 -1
16 SDFM-UKRAINE 1 0 -1
17 MLIU-IRELAND 1 0 -1
18 CENTIF-SENEGAL 0 1 1
19 FIA UGANDA 0 1 1
20 FIU GRENEDA 0 1 1
21 TRACFIN FRANCE 0 1 1
22 FIU INDIA 0 1 1
23 FIU ISLE OF MAN 0 1 1
24 ITALIAN EMBASSEY 0 3 3
25 UIF ITALY 0 1 1
26 JAFIC JAPAN 0 1 1
27 FIU KOREA 0 1 1
28 FCIS LITHUANIYA 0 1 1
TOTAL 53 18 -35
Based on the table above, the NFIU has only forwarded request for information to FIC S/Africa, FIU UK, FINCEN USA and FIU Mauritius in both last two quarters of 2019 and 2020. The NFIU has either forwarded request for information to the other 24 FIUs in the last half of 2019 or last Half of 2020. Overall, the foreign request for information sent by the NFIU in the last
Half of 2020 is less than that of last Half of 2019 by 35 requests.
13
Half Year Incoming Foreign Request For Information Jul - Dec 2019 & 2020
SN Countries Number of Request Jul -
Dec 2019 Number of Request Jul -
Dec 2020 Difference
1 Seychelles 1 0 -1
2 India 1 0 -1
3 Fincen 2 4 2
4 FIA (Uganda) 1 0 -1
5 BVI-FIA 1 0 -1
6 FIU (Portugal) 0 1 1
7 FIU (Korea) 0 1 1
8 FIU (Greneda) 0 1 1
9 FCIS (Lithuania 0 1 1
10 CENTIF(Senegal) 0 1 1
11 CENTIF (Niger) 0 1 1
12 FAU(Czec Republic) 0 1 1
13 NAFI (Cameroon) 0 1 1
Total Request for Information Re-
ceived 6 12 6
Based on the above table, the Number of foreign request for information received by the NFIU in the last half of 2020 is higher than the ones received in the last half of 2019 by 6 requests. Only FINCEN(USA) forwarded
request for information in both last quarters of 2019 and 2020. The other 12 FIUs have either forwarded a re-quest in the last Half of 2019 or the last Half of 2020. Foreign request for information has increased by 6 re-
quests in the last Half of 2020 compared to last Half of 2019.
NFIU Management Team and NYSC Anti Corruption CDS Group
The National Youth Service Corps’ (NYSC), Anti- Corruption
Community Development Service Group, has presented a
Certificate of Endorsement as Anti-Corruption Crusader to the
Director/Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Financial
Intelligence Unit, (NFIU), Mr. Modibbo HammanTukur.
The honour was bestowed on Mr HammanTukur in October
at the Headquarters of the NFIU in Abuja.
The CDS group leader, Mohammed Aminu Abbas who
made the presentation remarked that the Director merited
the award after members of the group appraised his
performance in office aince his appointment two years ago.
He made reference to Mr HammanTukur’s devotion to duty
and patriotism.
While expressing gratitude for the award, Mr. Ham-
manTukur declared that the NFIU would partner with the
NYSC Anti-Corruption group in the areas of sensitization
across the nation and to extend the gesture to the group’s
successors.
Community Development Service (CDS), is rated as an
important programme of the NYSC, and have assisted
several host communities positively in various capacities,
since the inception of the scheme in 1973.
NYSC Anti Corruption Group Honours NFIU Director, Modibbo HammanTukur
The Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian
Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), Modibbo HammanTukur,
has commended Interpol Nigeria Office, for its drive towards
the deployment of advanced technology to secure Nigeria
and the West African Sub-Region against the dreadful
activities of men of the underworld.
Mr HammanTukur gave the commendation when he
received a team from the Interpol National Central
Bureau Nigeria on a working visit.
The team was led by the Assistant Inspector General of
Police, Garba Umar Baba.
Mr. HammanTukur, asserted that intelligence remains
paramount to the success of stamping out all-violent
crimes, as the deployment of weaponry, had overtime
proven to be not so effective on its own.
On his part, AIG Baba, reflected on some emerging
trends in criminality and the need for Interpol, as a
national central bureau on crime data, and the NFIU, as
the National AML/CFT data repository with international
links to build on the existing harmonious relationship
between the two organisations.
INTERPOL, created in 1956, is an offshoot of the
International Criminal Police Commission, that was
formed at the 1923 International Police Congress, held in
Vienna. The organization is connected to 194 countries
of the world, usually guided by highly experienced Police
officers and financed by member countries.
14
NFIU Management Team and INTERPOL Nigeria Office Delegation
Member states of the Inter- Governmental Action Group
against Money Laundering in West Africa, (GIABA), has ap-
proved the evaluation of Sierra Leone following the submission
of the 2nd round Mutual Evaluation Report (MER) of
the country after it was presented to the Evaluation and Com-
pliance Group (ECG) during the 34th Hybrid technical commis-
sion/Plenary held from 2nd to 11th December, 2020.
Keys issues on the report were related to Recommendations 1,
5, 6, of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and Immediate
Outcome (IO)
The decision, which was taken dur-
ing Plenary also noted “improvements in the country’s legal
and institutional frameworks since its last evaluation in 2007” Source: GiabaEcowas
Director General GIABA, Justice Kimelabalou ABA
Tukur commends INTERPOL for deploying technology to help secure Nigeria, West Africa
GIABA approves evaluation of Sierra Leone
15
adding, however, that “ fundamental gaps necessitated the country being placed on Enhanced Follow-up process and di-
rective issued to present its first Follow-Up Report (FUR) in November 2021.”
Sierra Leone, Liberia and the Gambia are currently being sponsored by Nigeria as they seek to be members of the Egmont
Group of FIUs.
Effectiveness
IO1 IO2 IO3 IO4 IO5 IO6 IO7 IO8 IO9 IO10 IO11
ME LE LE LE LE LE LE LE LE LE LE
Technical Compliance
Recommendation R.1 R.2 R.3 R.4 R.5 R.6 R.7 R.8 R.9 R.10
Rating LC LC LC LC LC PC NC NC C PC
Recommendation R.11 R.12 R.13 R.14 R.15 R.16 R.17 R.18 R.19 R.20
Rating C LC LC PC PC PC PC PC PC C
Recommendation R.21 R.22 R.23 R.24 R.25 R.26 R.27 R.28 R.29 R.30
Rating C PC PC PC PC LC LC PC LC LC
Recommendation R.31 R.32 R.33 R.34 R.35 R.36 R.37 R.38 R.39 R.40
Rating LC PC LC PC LC LC PC PC PC LC
The GIABA Secretariat will publish the MER in 2021, after the quality and consistency review by the Global Network.
NFIU deploys CRIMS to Crime Fighting Agencies
Sequel to the creation and launch of the Crime Records
Information Management System (CRIMS) by the Nigerian
Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), in the first quarter of
2020, the Director and Chief Executive Officer of the unit,
Modibbo HammanTukur has set up a committed tasked with
the deployment if the tool to crime fighting agencies across
the nation.
The team, headed by the Special Adviser to the Director/
CEO Dr. Junaid Marshall has already swung into action and
has so far deployed the application to several agencies.
The team’s mandate include practical demonstrations on
how the application works, giving briefs on some extant laws
pertaining to intelligence profiling, offering guidance on the
protocol involved in filling of electronic request forms,
among other vital security issues.
The last quarter of the year 2020, witnessed operational
engagements on CRIMS, at some crime fighting
institutions, which comprised of the Defence Intelligence
Agency (DIA), the Nigerian Air Force Intelligence Corp,
(NAIC) Nigerian Navy Intelligence Corps (NNIC), Nigerian
Army Intelligence Corps (NAIC), Nigeria Immigration
Service, (NIS) The Nigeria Customs Service, (NCS) National
Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), National Agency
for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) and
the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence (NSCDC), Joint Intel-
ligence Board (JIB), Nigeria Police Force (NPF) and Depart-
ment of State Services (DSS).
CRIMS is an application developed by the NFIU to offer fast
solution to the storage and retrieval of information on
crimes and criminals for deployment at designated
locations across the nation.
The Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) is the central national agency responsible for the receipt of disclosures from reporting organisations, the analysist of these disclosures and the production of intelligence for dissemination to competent authorities. The NFIU is an autonomous unit, domiciled within the Central Bank of Nigeria and the central coordinating body for the country’s Anti-Money Laundering, Counter-Terrorist Financing and Counter-Proliferation Financing (AML/CFT/CPF) framework.
NIGERIAN FINANCIAL INTELLIGENCE UNIT No 12, Ibrahim Taiwo Street Aso Rock Villa, Abuja All feedback should be sent to: [email protected]