Chris Mishela, a lawyer who works with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has said that some estates springing up in Abuja and other parts of the country are believed to be proceeds of fraud and money laundering.
Speaking at a training session for journalists on effective reporting of the economic and financial crimes in Benin, Edo State, Mishela said they are getting closer to those hiding under real estate to perpetrate money laundering and other financial crimes.
He said; “In Abuja, you see so many estates coming all over and we believe the source of this fund are unlawful funds. The funds are illegally gotten either from government or from international crime that is used to launder through estate business.
“Real estate is one of the designated and non-designated professions that is also under our obligation under the establishment to do a full disclosure.
“So EFCC is actually working to look into that dimension and the new money laundering Act has provided an opening for the government to look into the aspect of real estate as we saw under the Act.
“It is not an investigation that is going on, rather we have identified specifically that these are proceeds of crime.”
