EFCC recovers €5,100 from notorious romance scammer, returns funds to Spanish Ambassador

By Luminous Jannamike

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has recovered €5,100 from a notorious romance scammer and returned the funds to the Spanish Ambassador to Nigeria, Juan Ignacio Sell.

This recovery was achieved through collaboration between the EFCC and the Spanish Police, demonstrating the commission’s commitment to combating international financial crimes.

At the EFCC headquarters in Abuja on Friday, EFCC Chairman Ola Olukoyede formally handed over the recovered funds to Ambassador Sell, providing relief to the Spanish victim, Heinz Burchard Einhaus Uchtmann, who was targeted in the romance scam.

The scammer, a Nigerian citizen, had defrauded the victim of €5,100, but the EFCC’s investigation led to the recovery of the stolen funds.

Olukoyede expressed appreciation to the Spanish government for its support and highlighted the importance of international cooperation in combating financial crimes.

The EFCC chairman noted that the resources controlled by criminals worldwide surpass the wealth in the technology industry, underscoring the need for global collaboration to sanitize the financial ecosystem.

He vowed to make Nigeria inhospitable for financial criminals and corrupt individuals, emphasizing the borderless nature of internet crimes.

Olukoyede said, “On our part as a law enforcement agency, the event here today is a testament of the collaboration between Nigeria and Spain and also between the law enforcement agencies in Nigeria and those in Spain.

“It has become very imperative for us to understand that financial crimes have become a borderless crime. Sometimes you will discover that they operate from a different country and get their victims in another country and the proceeds of crime go to a different country. On our path, we are resolute to ensure that Nigeria is not made a safe haven for financial criminals and corrupt people.

“That is why it has become imperative for all governments across the world to come together much more than ever before to collaborate in order to sanitize the global financial ecosystem and ensure that the activities of these criminals do not thrive. And that was what informed our determination in ensuring that anybody who perpetrates whatever is called romance scam or sextortion would not get away with it.

“With the investigation in this romance scam, we were able to make some recoveries for one of your citizens, Heinz Burchard Einhaus Uchtmann who became a victim of romance scam. And we are happy to inform you that we have been able to recover €5100 (Five Thousand, One Hundred Euros) for him and we have evidence that the money has also been transferred to him. So what we are doing here today is just to formalize the transfer of the proceeds of crime and to ensure that we strengthen our collaboration and relationship and even take it to a higher level. I want to let you know that what we are doing here is on behalf of the Federal Government of Nigeria, which has given us the mandate to do this work.”

In his remarks, Ambassador Sell commended the EFCC-Spanish Police collaboration and pledged to strengthen cooperation in training and information exchange.

He said, “Many times you work on processes and you will never see the end result of your endeavours but what has made this special is the fact that we have seen the results of the efforts of the collaboration of two countries that are friends for the benefit of the citizens. Indeed this is a joyful moment for all of us: those who were involved in the investigation and those who supervised it and made it happen.

“International crimes call very clearly for stronger collaboration between agencies and between countries. I am a witness that this is happening between Nigeria and Spain and specifically between the EFCC and Spanish Police. Beyond the operational collaboration you have with our police, we will also look at other avenues of collaboration in training and exchange of information.

“We are more than willing and more than ready to increase that cooperation between the EFCC and its sister institutions in Spain. So let us congratulate ourselves for what we are witnessing today. I am happy for the victim. Romance scams are particularly heinous in the sense that they thrive on the goodwill and good heart of the victims.”

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