BEVERLY HILLS, March 17, (THEWILL) – The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has given bank employees a June 1 deadline to declare their assets.
The Commission’s Executive Chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa, told State House correspondents Monday in Abuja after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari that the move was aimed at checking the role of banks in keeping funds acquired illegitimately.
The EFCC boss said the move, which is pursuant to the Bank Employees, Etc. (Declaration of Assets) Act 1986, is part of measures to sanitise the nation’s financial system and block loopholes currently being exploited by unscrupulous players in the sector to undermine the Nigerian economy through money-laundering and illicit financial flows.
Section 1 of the Bank Employees, Etc.. (Declaration of Assets) Act 1986 makes it mandatory for every employee of a bank to make full disclosure of assets upon employment, and annually in subsequent years.
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The law under Section 7 (1) stipulates that, “It shall be an offence for an employee of a bank to own assets in excess of his legitimate known and provable income.”
The penalty for violation of the Act, as spelt out in Section 7(2) includes imprisonment for a term of 10 years.
It stipulates: “Any employee guilty of an offence under subsection (1) of this Section shall on conviction be liable to imprisonment for ten years and shall, in addition, forfeit the excess assets or its equivalent in money to the Federal Government.”
Bawa, who also expressed worry about youth involvement in cybercrime, however, appealed to parents to take special interest in the activities of their children.
According to him, parents had a responsibility to ensure that they nurtured their children with the right set of values to ensure that they were not easily swayed by the allure of easy money through fraud and cybercrimes.
He added that the youth must learn that there was no shortcut to enduring wealth.
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