EFCC freezes 300 suspected illegal forex accounts to stop further naira free fall crash; Naira weakens to one-month low as dollar liquidity thins
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said on Tuesday that it has frozen about 300 suspected illegal forex accounts trading on a peer-to-peer platform.
Ola Olukoyede, EFCC Chairman, who announced this at an interactive session with journalists in Abuja revealed that the accounts were suspended Monday following a court order.
Termed the “P to P” (peer-to-peer) financial trading scheme, this illicit operation has thrived beyond the purview of official banking channels, posing a severe threat to the stability of the naira.
Olukayode further disclosed that over $15bn passed through one of the forex platforms just in the last one year, and outside of financial regulations.
According to him, the EFCC took the action to safeguard the foreign exchange market and protect the economy, and that recent efforts have helped strengthen the weak naira.
“Over 300 accounts, in illicit forex trading that would have led to another crash in the next one week if we hadn’t moved in quickly,” Olukoyede said.
“We got an order to freeze those accounts. Somebody would come and asked us ‘what is your business with forex transactions? Some people are happy; they take pleasure in seeing this country boiling and I’ve come to realise that in the course of this work, some people want to see things go bad! From bad to worse.”
But notwithstanding EFCC hammer, the naira weakened for a third straight day at the official market (NAFEM) on Tuesday, sliding to a one-month low of N1,300 per US dollar, according to data by FMDQ Securities Exchange.
Report say dollar liquidity has dipped on the back of investors exiting to safety in reaction to rising geo-political tensions that have also contributed to a stronger dollar.
The naira also closed flat at the black market after an initial gain in the early hours of the day that was triggered by the CBN’s dollar sale to BDCs.
A dollar sold for N1,270/$ on the streets on Tuesday evening, unchanged from Monday, as multiple traders who spoke with BusinessDay lamented tight liquidity.
