The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has raised the alarm over increasing patronage of illegal Money Transfer Operators by Nigerians in the Diaspora for the purpose of home remittances.

In a statement issued in Abuja, Isaac Okoroafor, Acting Director, Corporate Communication at the CBN said: “These unscrupulous operators, who lure unsuspecting customers with ridiculous exchange rates, use Naira accounts opened in local banks ostensibly for legal business to pay out the proceeds to the beneficiaries while channeling the foreign currencies to fund the parallel market.”

According to the statement, :This practice has led to non-reporting of such transactions to relevant authorities thereby undermining effective surveillance of the sector as well as leading to discrepancies in statistics on the transactions between countries of origin of remittance and the destination country, Nigeria.

“Against this background, Nigerians in the Diaspora are advised not to patronise unlicensed International Money Transfer Operators, as they stand the risk of losing their hard-earned money.

“Similarly, Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) are enjoined to ensure painstaking conduct of 'Know Your Customers’ Business' (KYB) in order to prevent the use of accounts for illegal transactions and avoid regulatory sanctions. In addition, such accounts, when discovered, will be blocked and the operators handed over to appropriate law enforcement agencies for prosecution.

“For the avoidance of doubt, as at November 9, 2016, the following are the International Money Transfer Operators licensed and authorised by the Central Bank of Nigeria to remit money to Nigeria on behalf of Nigerians in the Diaspora:

S/No. Registered Operators

1. AFTAB CURRENCY EXCHANGE LIMITED

2. AWS MALTA LIMITED

3. CAPEREMIT UK LIMITED

4. CASHPOT LIMITED

5. CENTREXCARD LIMITED

6. COLONY CAPITAL LIMITED

7. CP EXPRESS LIMITED

8. DAYTONA CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LIMITED

9. DT&T CORPORATION LIMITED

10. eTRANSACT LIMITED

11. FIEM GROUP LLC DBA PING EXPRESS

12. FIRST APPLE INC.

13. FIRST TRANSFER INC.

14. FOREN MONEY LIMITED

15. FUNTECH GLOBAL COMMUNICATIONS LIMITED

16. GDM TRANSFER PTY LIMITED

17. HOMESEND S.C.R.L

18. IDT PAYMENT SERVICES INC.

19. MONEYGRAM

20. NOUVEAU MOBILE LIMITED

21. PAGATECH LIMITED

22. REFITOK INTERNATIONAL LIMITED

23. RIA FINANCIAL

24. SANAA CAPITAL LLC (MONEY4 DIASPORA SERVICES LLC)

25. SMALL WORLD FINANCIAL SERVICES GROUP LIMITED

26. TCF LIMITED

27. TRANS-FAST REMITTANCE LLC

28. UAE EXCHANGE CENTRE LLC

29. VENTURE GARDEN NIGERIA

30. VTNETWORK LIMITED

31. WARI LIMITED

32. WEBLINK INTERNATIONAL LIMITED

33. WESTERN UNION

34. WI-PAY GLOBAL LLC

35. WORLDREMIT LIMITED

“The public is expected to take note and beware of illegal International Money Transfer Operators (IMTOs).”

•Photo shows CBN Headquarters.

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