The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has appealed to Point of Sales (POS) operators to help in the fight against corruption in the country stating that they should always carry out proper documentation of their customers to help checkmate money laundering.
This was made known by the Zonal Commander of the agency in the Maiduguri office, Onwukwe Obiora, during a meeting with operators on Tuesday, September 14, 2021.
According to Obiora, he said “Operators should always carry out proper documentation of their customers before transactions are made.
He explained that there is a disturbing number of reported cases regarding fraudsters using POS transactions to clean people’s money or defraud them.
The officer while still explaining, he said carrying out diligence on customers will help to check money laundering in the northeast region, and Nigeria in general.
H said “There is a need for you to obey the ‘Know Your Customer policy in every financial transaction you make as required by law.
“This obligation is enshrined in Section 3 of the Money Laundering (Prohibited) Act 2011 (as amended) and if violated, you are liable to not less than three years imprisonment or a fine of N10million or both, in case of individual and N25million in the case of a body corporate,” he said.
Obiora further advised that ignorance of the law is not acceptable and that operators who validate transactions that turn out to be fraudulent will be penalized.
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