The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has made notable strides in its investigation of the N1.3 trillion Crypto Bridge Exchange (CBEX) crypto scam, recovering a reasonable amount of stolen funds and arresting several suspects, EFCC Chairman Ola Olukoyede confirmed in a recent interview with TVC.
Olukoyede stated, “We have gone far with CBEX. We have been able to recover a reasonable amount of money,” adding that the stolen assets were primarily in cryptocurrency, which posed challenges in converting them back to cash. He explained, “There is no way you will get the dollars in cash without necessarily going through the same process” used by the fraudsters.
The EFCC has arrested some suspects while continuing to pursue others declared wanted, though details remain confidential to avoid disrupting ongoing investigations. “We have made a reasonable arrest… We are still after quite a number of people we have declared wanted,” Olukoyede said.
Earlier, the EFCC had declared eight CBEX promoters wanted following a Federal High Court order to arrest them over a $1 billion fraud. Among those wanted are foreign nationals, alongside Nigerian suspects linked to the scheme. One suspect, Adefowora Abiodun, voluntarily surrendered to authorities, signaling progress in the probe.
The EFCC has also worked with international partners, including Interpol, to track the fraudsters across multiple countries, as the scam involved foreign nationals and complex crypto wallet transfers outside Nigeria’s jurisdiction.
Olukoyede cautioned that full restitution to victims would be difficult, given the nature of cryptocurrency transactions and the dispersal of funds across various wallets. “I will not sit here and tell you that we are going to restore every victim. It will become practically impossible,” he noted in earlier remarks.
This ongoing investigation marks a critical effort by the EFCC to bring perpetrators to justice and recover assets from one of Nigeria’s largest crypto frauds to date.
