The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is still awaiting responses from foreign authorities regarding funds linked to the collapsed CBEX investment scheme.
A senior official of the anti-graft agency, familiar with the investigation, disclosed to Punch on Saturday that a large portion of the funds traced in the fraudulent scheme remained outside Nigeria.
CBEX, an online investment platform that promised investors a 100 per cent return within 30 days through digital trading, collapsed in early April 2025.
No fewer than 600,000 Nigerians were said to have invested about ₦1.3 trillion in the scheme before it crashed.
Trouble began on April 9, 2025, when the platform restricted withdrawals, preventing users from accessing their funds.
Shortly after, investors’ account balances were allegedly wiped out, while the platform reportedly demanded a fresh deposit of at least $100 before users could regain access to their accounts, further raising suspicions of fraud.
Among the Nigerians said to have invested in the scheme is Fuji musician Taye Adebisi, popularly known as Taye Currency.
Providing an update on the investigation, the EFCC official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak publicly, said the commission had written to relevant foreign authorities to trace and recover funds transferred out of Nigeria.
He noted that responses from the foreign jurisdictions had not yet been received, more than a year after the requests were made.
“Many of the operators have been arrested and some of them arraigned. You know this thing has foreign linkage. We have written to these foreign jurisdictions concerning the funds that were moved to their jurisdictions. We are still expecting responses. This is not something we have control over,” the official said.
Another EFCC official said the cross-border nature of the investigation involves immigration, legal, and law enforcement processes across different countries, which could slow progress.
“Many issues are involved. Immigration issues are involved, legal and a lot of law enforcement issues are involved. They paid dollars; it would involve other jurisdictions, but we are sorting them out and our investigation has not stopped,” the official said.
He added that while some funds had been recovered locally from suspects already arrested, the bulk of the money linked to the scheme had been moved abroad.
“Some within the country have been recovered from those arrested, as stated by our chairman, but a larger percent of the money is not in the country,” he said.
The EFCC had earlier declared 14 persons wanted in connection with the fraudulent investment platform. Several suspects have already been arrested and are currently standing trial.
Investigators believe the syndicate operated through a network of local promoters and foreign collaborators, making the recovery of stolen funds heavily dependent on cooperation from international partners.
