The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, has disclosed that the agency has successfully recovered some funds from the $1.3 billion lost to the controversial digital investment platform, Crypto Bridge Exchange (CBEX).
Olukoyede added that efforts were ongoing by personnel of the agency in collaboration with their partners to recover other funds lost by Nigerians and apprehend perpetrators of the Ponzi scheme.
The EFCC boss, who disclosed this during an interview yesterday, affirmed that the agency has also arrested suspects linked to the crypto fraud scheme that swindled many Nigerians.
According to the anti-corruption agency chief, we have gone far with CBEX. We have been able to recover a reasonable amount of money.
While Olukoyede did not specify the exact amount recovered, he explained that the stolen funds, originally in cryptocurrency, have been partially traced and reclaimed by the EFCC.
However, he noted that converting the funds back to cash in dollars posed significant challenges due to the nature of cryptocurrency transactions.
“Even though it was in the crypto wallet, the same way the money was taken from them is how it is being recovered. There’s no way you will get dollars in cash without necessarily going through the same crypto process,” he stated.
The EFCC boss further confirmed that some suspects have been arrested, with others still at large. “We have made a reasonable arrest. We are not going to give out much because we don’t want the process to be disrupted. We are still after quite a number of people we have declared wanted,” he added.
Olukoyede highlighted the complexity of the investigation, explaining that the fraudsters used “non-custodial wallets,” which are not linked to any identities, making it difficult to trace them.
“We are still investigating a lot of wallets. These wallets have no KYC, so you can’t trace them to anyone directly,” he said. “They moved the funds from these wallets to some in Europe, Eastern Europe, particularly Cambodia, and then dispersed the money. We have been able to block some of these wallets where the money has not been dispersed.”
The EFCC Chairman urged Nigerians to be cautious of such scams, emphasizing the need to learn from the CBEX saga. “I even learnt that there are still some of these perpetrators and Nigerians are still falling victim. I believe people should learn from this,” he warned.
CBEX collapsed in April, leaving investors with reported losses of over ₦1.3 trillion after the platform became inaccessible amid a wave of withdrawal issues and the sudden disappearance of users’ account balances. Although the platform has since resumed operations and introduced new withdrawal options to regain investor confidence, concerns about its legitimacy persist.
The EFCC’s continued efforts to trace and recover funds lost to CBEX fraud offer a glimmer of hope to affected investors while also highlighting the agency’s resolve in the fight against financial crimes in Nigeria.
