Understanding Unexplained Wealth Order (UWO): Red flags & Reporting Channels

Mustapha, a civil servant in one of the government parastatals, owns a fleet of automobiles and a luxury flat in Maitama, Abuja, despite his meagre pay. No one dares to question him since he is connected to “powers that be”.

In addition to his Mercedes G-Wagon, Bolaji, a computer science student at Nations University just purchased a Porsche Cayenne Turbo. After multiple failed attempts by law enforcement agencies to apprehend him, he is the lone survivor of a cybercrime group. Among his contemporaries and fans, he has been dubbed "Kabiyesi" which means King, but literally "one who cannot be questioned".

A philanthropist, Mbamalu, has no recognized source of income and is well known in Enugu's famous Market. Many have questioned his source of wealth, given his poor background, but certainly not his community, who just bestowed the traditional title of "Oji ego, ji ife" on him, which translates as “He who has money, has something”.

What unquestionably connects the three fictitious characters in the fictional tales above is their inability to gain money or assets via legitimate means. The fundamentals of unexplained wealth are laid forth here.

What is an Unexplained Wealth Order (UWO)?

The Criminal Finances Act 2017 established the Unexplained Wealth Order (UWO) in the United Kingdom in January 2018. The UWO is a court order requiring an accused person to provide sufficient evidence to prove his/her wealth or assets. The National Crime Agency (NCA) in the United Kingdom executed the first successful UWO case in October 2020 against Leeds Businessman "Mansoor Mahmood Hussain."

In Nigeria, The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Establishment Act 2004 remains the only legislation that addresses the spectrum of the Unexplained Wealth. Specifically, Section 7 (1)(b) of the EFCC Act 2004 empowers the EFCC to investigate “properties of any person if it appears to the Commission that the person’s lifestyle and extent of the properties are not justified by his source of income”.

Red flags/Indicators of Unexplained Wealth

According to a paper provided by Western Australia's Crime and Corruption Commission, the following are indicators that someone may be in possession of unexplained wealth:

• the accumulation of assets, not proportionate with the persons lawfully acquired income.
• frequent purchases of luxury goods or services, including travel, without the apparent lawful means to support those purchases.
• regularly performing large financial transactions in cash, including deposits or withdrawals to or from bank accounts; and
• storing large amounts of cash at a residential address.

Predicate offences that constitute unexplained wealth include Drug Trafficking, Cybercrime, Corruption, Kickbacks, Extortion, Procurement Fraud, Contract Scam, etc.

Reporting Unexplained Wealth

The following channels are available for reporting cases of unexplained Wealth in some countries:

Reference:

https://www.ccc.wa.gov.au/report-unexplained-wealth-now/what-are-unexplained-wealth-indicators

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unexplained_wealth_order