Security agencies in collaboration with banks and other financial institutions in the country are monitoring accounts belonging to foreign embassies, politically exposed persons and other high net worth individuals.

Investigations by The PUNCH’s    showed such  accounts were those that  could be used to launder money and finance terrorism.

It was gathered that security agencies categorised politically exposed persons as individuals  entrusted with prominent public offices in Nigeria or foreign  embassies and  officials  as well as   people  associated with them.

They also include  former heads of state; state governors; local government chairmen , senior government,  and political party officials and their family members.

Also being monitored are accounts of former governors, ex- local government chairmen, ex-senior government officials  and their counterparts in the judiciary.

Investigations showed that the monitoring system was activated in late 2012 as part of security strategies to cut off the sources of funding for terrorism and other criminal enterprises in the country.

It was learnt  on Sunday that the monitoring strategy was based on the Central Bank of Nigeria  risk-based supervision framework.

Security sources told one of  our correspondents that certain embassies or foreign consulate accounts which posed a higher risk in the areas of terrorism funding were getting special attention from officials.

It was learnt that the officials were  expected to file   reports on  their  monthly transactions  with the  CBN and appropriate security agency(cies) for analysis and action.

The banks are said to ‘redflag’   accounts where substantial currency transactions take place, particularly if it was  owned by countries that have been designated as higher risk . Such countries include   Iran, Mauritania, Yemen, Pakistan, Sudan, Afghanistan, Lebanon, and other   nations associated with violent Islamic groups.

Some  Nigerians involved in terror-related activities are believed to have been trained in Yemen, Pakistan, Mali, Mauritania and others.

One of the security  sources  said on Sunday  that,  “Banks are expected to redflag accounts belonging to certain embassies or politically exposed persons like governors especially if the account activity is not consistent with the purpose of the account.

“Ongoing monitoring of  embassy and foreign consulate account relationships is critical to ensuring that the account relationships are being used as expected.”

It was learnt that security agencies had identified prepaid credit/debit cards as a source of criminal funding  based on  the fact that  some card holders use  false identification and also load cash from illicit sources onto  their cards.

According to our source, such  card  holders  usually send   transfer  funds  to their accomplices inside or outside the country  for criminal activities.

Investigations indicated that prepaid cards were being used as illegal cash transfer point by criminal-minded individuals on account of the anonymity of the cardholder, fictitious cardholder information, easy cash access of the card and the huge volume of funds that could be transacted on the card.

The fact that credit card can easily be used and reloaded from any geographical point that has an ATM machine, makes   it  the preferred tool for money laundering ,it was gathered.

It was also learnt that each bank was required to submit the financial transactions of at least 50 of its most active customers who must include PEPs, private investment companies, Non-Governmental Organisations, consulate accounts, brokers, and anyone with access to government assets.

The State Security Service, police and immigration are also investigating the nationals of some countries tagged “nations sponsoring terrorism.”

When contacted, Director, Corporate Communications Department, CBN, Mr. Ugochukwu Okoroafor, denied knowledge of such accounts being placed on surveillance.

He said, “This is news to me, I am hearing it for the first time from you.”

The Deputy Force Public Relations Officer, Frank Mba said  the police were doing everything possible to check terrorism, stressing that the Force was deploying every necessary strategy to check crimes in the country.

“I won’t say the police are working with banks to monitor every bank accounts, but we are actively deploying our strategies in  checking  terrorism by cutting off their sources of funding,” he stated.

SUNDAY PUNCH had earlier reported that security agents were on the trail of three different foreign-sponsored terror cells in the country.

A senior security official had identified the sponsors of the terror cells as being resident in Sudan, Somalia and Yemen. The terror cells were similar to the Iranian cell uncovered by the State Security Service last month.

The SSS had also paraded a leader of an Islamic sect, Abdullahi Berende, and two others said to be members of the Iranian terror cell gathering information about Israelis and Americans living in Nigeria.

Fifty-year-old Berende, Sulaiman Saka and Saheed Adewunmi, were said to be working for Iranian terrorists planning to attack Americans and Israelis in the country. A third suspect, Bunyamin Yusuf, is said to be at large.

But Iran denied the allegations by Nigeria that it had trained militants arrested in Nigeria on planning attacks on US and Israeli targets in the country.

Deputy Foreign Minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, said such allegations were “made up as the result of the ill will of the enemies of the two countries’ good relations.”

“Iran and Nigeria have friendly and close relations, and despite the vast efforts of the two countries’ enemies in recent years, relations and co-operations have always improved,” he said.