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Expansion of SOCU mandate violates FATF recommendations – Nandlall
“I warned that using SOCU to investigate any other offences may violate the relevant FATF recommendations. I was ignored. The Government has done worse. It has now institutionally expanded the scope of SOCU to investigate offences far and beyond AMLCFT offences. So, currently, we do not have a Specialized Crime Unit which exclusively investigates AMLCFT offences as is required by the FATF recommendations.”
Former Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall is criticising the APNU – AFC
Anil Nandlall
administration over what he says is the violation of recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
The FATF recommendations set out a comprehensive and consistent framework of measures, which countries including Guyana should implement in order to combat money laundering and terrorist financing, as well as the financing of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
The FATF had set an international standard, which countries should implement through measures adapted to their particular circumstances. These standards comprise legislative and administrative components.
Guyana’s Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) (Amendment) Bill was passed last year, following the establishment of the Specialized and Organized Crime Unit (SOCU), the body set up to deal solely with financial crimes as recommended by the FATF. The unit was set up under the purview of the Guyana Police Force.
However, with a team from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) set to visit Guyana to confirm the country’s progress made in the implementation of required reforms, issues surrounding the recommendations are once again in the news.
Nandlall in a recent statement criticized government’s implementation of the crucial recommendations, pointing to a disclosure by Minister of Public Security Khemraj Ramjattan.
He said that the operation protocols for SOCU have been extended due to developments in Guyana Police Force‘s Standing Order No. 62.
According to Ramjattan, based on amendments to the Police Force Standing Order, SOCU will now have powers to investigate crimes such as murders, piracy, smuggling and other crimes which traditionally fall under the ambit of the police.
But Nandlall says that this is directly against the proposed function of the specially-formed unit.
“These protocols confirm that SOCU will remain in the Force under the superintendence of the Commissioner of Police. A natural consequence is that its officers will be subject to the same regime of scrutiny oversight and functional autonomy that apply to the Force. However, these protocols expand the mandate and the scope of SOCU outside and beyond its original mandate, which was, the investigation of offences created by the AMLCFT legislation.”
“It now has the mandate to investigate murder, piracy, environmental offences and a whole host of offences which are neither “specialized” nor “organized” crimes,” Nandlall added.
The opposition politician maintained that the specialized crime unit to investigate solely and exclusively AMLCFT offences was a specific recommendation of FATF.
The FATF team had announced an on-site visit to Guyana slated for sometime this month.
The visit by the team is part of efforts by FATF to confirm that the process of implementing the required reforms and actions is underway to address deficiencies previously identified by that body.
During a recent press conference current Attorney General, Basil Williams had said that Guyana has been making progress in the implementation of the FATF recommendations. He nonetheless expressed the desire that the SOCU is allowed to carry out its mandate in accordance with the Anti-Money Laundering legislation and is not burdened by unnecessary “police work” lest the administration be accused of stymieing the role of the agency.
As such, with no specialized Organized Unit in place to treat only with AMLCFT offences, Nandlall believes there should be no optimism that Guyana will soon exit the review process of FATF.
“I warned that using SOCU to investigate any other offences may violate the relevant FATF recommendations. I was ignored. The Government has done worse. It has now institutionally expanded the scope of SOCU to investigate offences far and beyond AMLCFT offences. So, currently, we do not have a Specialized Crime Unit which exclusively investigates AMLCFT offences as is required by the FATF recommendations.”
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