Money laundering on the increase, warns Attorney-General – Mozambique

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Money laundering on the increase, warns Attorney-General – Mozambique

8:01 CAT | 07 Nov 2016

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Mozambique’s Attorney-General, Beatriz Buchili, warned on Monday that too few cases of money laundering are making their way into the country’s courts.

Speaking at the opening of a Maputo seminar on how the fight against money laundering can also be used to combat corruption, Buchili said that, despite recent legislation against money laundering, “the number of cases investigated and charged remains a challenge, given the reality that there are multiple indications that this type of crime is on the increase”.

“Understanding how measures to prevent and fight against money laundering can facilitate the work we are undertaking against corruption is a priority for us”, she added.

Money laundering and corruption went hand in hand, she said, and it was common that when cases of money laundering are investigated “matters come to light that indicate the existence of crimes of corruption”.

The main challenge, argued Buchili, was one of “institutional coordination and cooperation” between the multiplicity of bodies involved. These include not only the Central Office for the Fight against Corruption (GCCC) and the Criminal Investigation Police (PIC), but also financial agencies such as the Bank of Mozambique, the Mozambique Stock Exchange, the Financial Intelligence Office, the Insurance Supervision Institute, the General Gaming Inspectorate (which controls casinos and other forms of gambling), and the Order of Accountants and Auditors.

Success in the fight against money laundering and corruption, Buchili said, would also depend on swift action against the proceeds of such crimes. She warned that when the proceeds are not confiscated, or at least frozen, they will be used again by the criminals and their accomplices.

“This situation demands that we intervene in good time and use adequate mechanisms that allow us to detect, identify, locate and recover the goods or products related with criminal activities”, she urged. Given the cross-border nature of organized crime “we must count on the collaboration of foreign jurisdictions in dealing with these matters”.

This also meant strengthening the legislation. Buchili wanted to see a new law passed on the recovery of assets from criminals, and a law that would regulate international judicial cooperation.

Source: AIM