One of the lawyers at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Chris Mishela, has disclosed that some of the estates springing up in various parts of the country are proceeds of money laundering and fraud. This revelation was made during a training session for journalists on effective reporting of the economic and financial crimes in Benin, Edo State. Mishela also stated that the new money laundering Act has provided an opening for the government to investigate real estate businesses. According to him, real estate is one of the designated and non-designated professions that is under the EFCC's obligation to do a full disclosure. Mishela went on to say that the EFCC is currently working to look into that dimension and that the new money laundering Act has provided an opening for the government to investigate the aspect of real estate as we saw under the Act. He also added that the investigation is not ongoing, but they have identified that the estates are proceeds of crime specifically. Mishela pointed out that the source of the funds used to build these estates are either from government or from international crime that is used to launder through estate business.
