Binance trained ‘police, EFCC operatives’, blocked 281 accounts over money laundering

Onwubuke Melvin
Onwubuke Melvin

Binance stated it confined 281 accounts belonging to Nigerian residents as a result of money laundering concerns in 2022 and extensively partnered with the FG to protect users from illicit activity.

The Binance team also stated in a press release, that it had visited the country twice during the fourth quarter, and the company’s Law Enforcement Training Team had given two full days of training to EFCC officials with more than 30 investigators in attendance, according to nairametrics.

The financial crime compliance teams at Binance received 626 information requests between June 2020 and February 2024, about investigations that were relevant to Nigeria or from law enforcement agencies in Nigeria. For those applications, the average duration between submission and resolution was 37.4 hours.

“The Nigeria Police Force, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, and INTERPOL Nigeria were among the many organizations that benefited from the information we supplied in their efforts to combat crimes ranging from money laundering, kidnapping, extortion, and scams.”

In addition, the company claimed to have provided detailed information on Binance’s operations and training of Nigeria’s law enforcement officials about exchange functions within the digital asset ecosystem.

It said, “We have also presented several case studies, some of which have included suspects from Nigeria. The Nigerian investigators gave the two sessions a total of over 80% favourable feedback, indicating that they were looking forward to continuing this cooperation model.

The exchange also conducted a three-hour online workshop for seventy EFCC officials in August 2023. The workshop’s main objectives were to interpret Binance’s operational responses and determine how best to use our help.

“We worked closely with the authorities to safeguard users from illegal activity in a well-publicized action that occurred in January 2022, restricting 281 accounts that belonged to Nigerian residents because of worries about money laundering,” it added.

Almost half of all fintech investments made in Africa between 2019 and 2023 will go into Nigeria, according to the Crypto exchange.


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