ABUJA, Nigeria — The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, has announced the recovery of funds and the arrest of suspects linked to the collapse of Crypto Bridge Exchange (CBEX), a digital investment platform that allegedly defrauded Nigerians of over ₦1.3 trillion.
Speaking in an interview with TVC on Sunday, Olukoyede said the anti-graft agency had made “significant progress” in its investigation into the controversial crypto scheme, including identifying and freezing some cryptocurrency wallets connected to the fraud.
“We have gone far with CBEX. We have been able to recover a reasonable amount of money,” he stated, without disclosing the exact figure.
The EFCC chairman acknowledged the complexity of recovering stolen assets in cryptocurrency, especially when dealing with “non-custodial wallets” — crypto wallets that lack identity verification protocols, or Know Your Customer (KYC) checks.
“We are still investigating a lot of wallets. The wallets they created are called non-custodial wallets; in other words, no KYC. So, you can’t trace it to anybody,” he explained.
“From the non-custodial wallet, they moved it to some wallets in Europe — particularly Cambodia — and from there, they dispersed the money.”
Despite these challenges, Olukoyede said the Commission had succeeded in blocking some wallets before the funds were withdrawn.
He added that some suspects had already been arrested, while others remain at large.
“We have made reasonable arrests. We are not going to give out much because we don’t want the process to be disrupted. We are still after quite a number of people we have declared wanted,” he said.
The CBEX platform collapsed in April, triggering a wave of outrage across Nigeria’s social media space.
Users reported being unable to withdraw funds, followed by the abrupt disappearance of account balances.
Investigations later revealed that the scheme may have cost investors more than ₦1.3 trillion in losses.
Although the platform has since resumed limited operations and reopened for new users and withdrawals, the EFCC continues to warn Nigerians against participating in unregulated digital trading schemes.
Olukoyede urged citizens to remain vigilant and to avoid falling prey to similar investment traps.
“I even learnt that there are still some of these perpetrators and Nigerians are still falling victim. I believe people should learn from this,” he said.
The CBEX probe is one of the largest crypto-related fraud investigations in the country’s history.
