Money laundering ‘increasing’

Business

By SHIRLEY MAULUDU
MONEY laundering activities in Papua New Guinea last year increased slightly from the previous 12 months, according to the Bank of PNG’s financial analysis and supervision unit (Fasu).
This was highlighted in Fasu’s 2019 annual report.
According to the report, money laundering activities in the country were more towards professional laundering through the commercial banking sector.
Fasu director Benny Popoitai told The National that money laundering was wide spread throughout the world.
He said his unit had been working on cases in the country and clarified that Fasu’s work was on gathering information but not prosecuting offenders.
“Fasu’s work is intelligence work. We don’t go after offenders,” he said.
“We search other banks or other countries and then we alert other law enforcement agencies like the IRC (Internal Revenue Commission), Customs, Police, Ombudsman and Immigration.
“They go after them and prosecute. We just provide information.”
The report noted that in PNG there was little or no attempt to hide the source or illicit application of the funds.
“On occasions, these funds move from a government, or commercial account, held in a bank, to a customer account held by the same bank, with little or no sophisticated laundering methodology employed,” the report said.
“Where there has been a level of sophistication developing involving the use of professionals, such as law firms and accountants, these professional facilitators assist in the creation of shell companies to act as nominee shareholders and directors. They also assist in generating and issuing fake documentation.
“Some of these professional facilitators also act in other capacities for the same clients – providing a ‘one-stop-shop’ for corruption and money laundering facilitation.
“The use of shell companies and nominee directors and shareholders remained a favoured method of obscuring the ownership and control of illicit assets during 2019.
“2019 also saw the continuation of the movement of illicit proceeds to other jurisdictions in ‘dribs and drabs’ in transactions designed to look ‘supposedly commercial’ and through the use of debit and credit cards to transfer money offshore and repatriate it.”
The report also noted that there was little indication that PNG was a source, destination or transit country for terrorist-financing.

One thought on “Money laundering ‘increasing’

  • Please check the bechedemer trading. Black market money is circulating outside the bank system for this purpose.These people have become smarter than our system or that bribery has taken the better of the agencies responsible. The incountry exporters are sponsored by these organized groups and only pay their commission whilst they move the produce offshore without remitting all the proceeds back in country .This is definitely requires attention.Over to you…

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