Cross Border Fraud: EFCC, FCCPC sign MoU with US Trade Commission

In a bid to tackle cross border illegal dealings, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, FCCPC, and the United States Federal Trade Commission, FTC, have signed an upgraded Memorandum of Understanding, MoU.

Signed jointly on October 27, 2020, by Mohammed Umar Abba, acting Chairman, EFCC; Babatunde Irukera, Executive Vice Chairman, FCCPC, and Joseph Simmons, Chairman FTC, the MoU provides a framework for continuous partnership in the existing areas of cooperation – exchange of information and assistance in consumer protection investigations.

Wilson Uwujaren, EFCC spokesman in a statement, Friday, said the new MoU, “which is an improved version of an earlier one signed in 2013, establishes a joint implementation committee to develop joint training programmes and workshops as well as provide assistance in respect of specific investigations.”

It also stated that the MoU “acknowledges the participants’ support for econsumer.gov, a joint project of agencies from 40 countries for reporting international scam online.”

The EFCC is the coordinating agency for the enforcement of all economic and financial crimes laws in Nigeria and has a global network of partnerships in transnational organized crime investigation.

The FCCPC’s mandate, on the other hand, is dealing with consumer protection issues in Nigeria, while its U.S counterpart, the FTC, promotes anti-trust, consumer protection and data privacy enforcement among others.