Latest update November 30th, 2024 1:00 AM
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187 money laundering cases pending in court- Nandlall
Kaieteur News – Some 187 cases of money laundering are still being heard in the courts here, Attorney General, Anil Nandlall has disclosed.
Attorney General Anil Nandlall.
He made the comments during his programme ‘Issues in the News’ on Tuesday. The information he said is part of the update provided to the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) at the 58th Plenary and Working Group Meetings held in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago from June 2 to June 7, 2024.
The AG said: “persons do not know and perhaps we should be making these more public but we have a total of 187 cases pending in the criminal justice system in relation to money laundering type offences. Now I had to explain to the plenary that we do not control the speed at which these cases are heard and determined, but you can’t fault us for not fighting the cases and be in a state of readiness to prosecute.”
Nandlall said that Guyana was able to show that three aircraft, one luxury yacht and a ship which were all involved in drug trafficking offences were seized. “We were able to show that we confiscated three aircraft, one luxury yacht and a ship all involved in drug trafficking offences, that persons were charged and in most of the cases convicted.”
The AG stressed that Guyana cannot be faulted, “for its lack of attempts and its commitment to deal with organized crime across borders. Hence we have a menu of amendments to out extradition laws currently pending in the national assembly all these things are connected.”
He also said that the government is forfeiting assets that are deemed to be the proceeds of crime or connected to the conduct of criminal activities. All of this is being put out in the public’s domain to establish “when Guyana’s system will be reviewed again you will have firm evidence of firm action taken by the government in response to the type of disclosures that we have had from the United States of America.” Nandlall boasted that during scrutiny of Guyana at the forum, there was “no evidence whatsoever that there was a lack of such a commitment from Guyana and all the sectors. None at all and we were scored heavily in that regard.”
Back in 2021, the US Department of State had said that unregulated currency exchange houses and dealers in precious metals and stones pose risks to Guyana’s AML/CFT system. Other sectoral vulnerabilities include the banking industry and unregulated attorneys, accountants, real estate agents, used car dealers, and charities. Guyana has made significant progress on the AML/CFT front, but more investigations and successful prosecutions are necessary. However, the US had said too that the government has shown strong political will to combat money laundering and has made progress on the AML/CFT front. Guyana still needs to increase its training for the judiciary on matters pertaining to the investigation and prosecution of financial crimes. A national strategic plan for combatting money laundering should be developed and implemented, and legislation passed for the facilitation and regulation of secure electronic communications and transactions. Reporting and investigating entities should also improve their interagency coordination, and the GRA should report suspicious transactions to SOCU.
- AG, cases, CFATF, laundering, pending
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