The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has arraigned an Austrian national, Kavlak Onal, for allegedly failing to declare large sums of foreign currency at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.
Onal was charged by the EFCC, Lagos Zonal Directorate 2, Okotie Eboh, Ikoyi, before Justice Yelim Bogoro of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos.
According to the anti-graft agency, the defendant was found in possession of $800,575 and €651,505 while attempting to travel out of Nigeria without declaring the funds as required by law.
The EFCC said Onal was scheduled to board an Emirates Airline flight to Dubai when he was intercepted during a routine screening at the Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism Currency Declaration Desk at the airport.
In a statement shared on its official social media page on Friday, the commission said, “The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Lagos Zonal Directorate 2, Okotie Eboh, Ikoyi, Lagos, on Friday, January 9, 2026, arraigned one Kavlak Onal, an Austrian national arrested by the Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, for allegedly failing to declare the sums of $800,575 and €651,505 in his possession.”
The statement added, “He was arraigned before Justice Yelim Bogoro of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos.”
Explaining how the arrest was made, the EFCC said, “Onal, who was scheduled to travel on Emirates Airline to Dubai, was on Tuesday, December 16, 2025 intercepted during a routine check at the AML/CFT Currency Declaration Desk at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos.”
The commission said the case is being handled in line with Nigeria’s anti-money laundering laws, noting that investigations and prosecution would continue in accordance with the law.
