The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, under the leadership of its Chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa, has on Tuesday, vowed to jail Landlords in the country who lease their properties to internet fraudsters, locally known as Yahoo Boys,
The anti-graft Agency will host a discussion on Twitter Spaces to educate the citizens, on Wednesday, it disclosed.
The EFCC Legal and Prosecution Officers will speak at the Forum, the 10th edition of the EFCC Connect.
The topic of the Chat: ‘Give your house to Yahoo boys, spend 15 years in jail’, has elicited reactions on THE social media.
The EFCC had repeatedly warned owners of commercial properties against making them available to fraudsters.
Earlier in the month, it met with Hotel owners in Ilorin, the Kwara capital.
The Zonal Commander, Michael Nzekwe, expressed concern about the “cold complicity by hospitality entrepreneurs”.
Nzekwe accused some of them of working with suspected fraudsters, by housing them over a long period and making internet facilities available for them.
He added that such act negates Section 3 of the Advance Fee Fraud and other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006.
His words: “The Section provides for a prison term of between 5 and 15 years, without option of fine, for any person who permits his premises to be used for any offence under the Act.”
On the argument that Hoteliers are business people and cannot determine who a fraudster is, Nzekwe explained that the Law does not recognise that position.
The EFCC told them to always ask their customers for means of identification, and to include their occupation, during check-in procedure.
More news later…
