EFCC Declares Two More Nigerians Wanted Over N1.3 Trillion CBEX Crypto Fraud

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has declared two additional individuals wanted in connection with the massive ₦1.3 trillion Crypto Bridge Exchange (CBEX) fraud, raising the number of wanted suspects to eight.

In a statement posted on its official X (formerly Twitter) account on Wednesday, the anti-graft agency accused the newly listed suspects of orchestrating sophisticated crypto-based scams that defrauded thousands of Nigerians through the CBEX platform.

The EFCC called on members of the public with credible information about the suspects’ whereabouts to come forward, assuring that such tips would be treated confidentially.

This development follows recent disclosures by EFCC Chairman, Mr. Ola Olukoyede, who confirmed that the commission had recovered a portion of the stolen funds and arrested several individuals linked to the fraud. Olukoyede explained that although much of the stolen money was held in cryptocurrency, the EFCC had traced and recovered parts of it despite challenges in converting it into fiat currency.

“Even though the money was in crypto wallets, we have managed to recover a reasonable amount,” he said in an interview with TVC. “We’re still tracking suspects and investigating multiple non-custodial wallets, which are untraceable due to lack of KYC (Know Your Customer) verification.”

He further revealed that the fraudsters dispersed the stolen funds across digital wallets in countries like Cambodia and other parts of Eastern Europe. However, the commission has succeeded in blocking several wallets before the funds could be moved.

In April, one of the scheme’s alleged ringleaders, Adefowora Abiodun, voluntarily turned himself in to the EFCC after being declared wanted by a Federal High Court ruling. He was among six key promoters of the CBEX scam, which reportedly wiped out over $1 billion in investor funds, mainly affecting Nigerian youth.

His lawyer, Babatunde Busari, said Abiodun was cooperating fully with the authorities in a bid to clear his name and counter widespread misinformation.

The EFCC’s investigation into the CBEX collapse remains ongoing as the commission intensifies efforts to track down all involved in what has become one of Nigeria’s largest digital financial fraud cases in recent history.