$8B in financial crimes reported to FIU for 2018

The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) has submitted its annual report to the Finance Minister, even as the Unit has revealed that financial crimes involving over $8 billion worth of illicit money were reported to it for the 2018 fiscal year.

This was according to FIU Director, Matthew Langevine in his comments during the handing over of the report on Monday at the Ministry of Finance. According to Langevine, many of these reports centred on money laundering.

“We’ve done a lot of work in sharing information [with] the Special Organised Crime Unit and the other stakeholders like the central bank, about some of the suspicious transactions we’re seeing in the sector,” Langevine said during the handing over of the report.

He added that reports were also received about suspected money laundering from the money transfer sector. “But we’ve also seen suspicious transactions related to tax evasion, drug trafficking, corruption in public office, suspected terrorist financing and insider trading.”

According to Langevine, they would have examined all these reports and shared information where applicable. Besides SOCU, Langevine revealed that they have also been sharing info with the State Assets Recovery Agency and the Guyana Revenue Authority.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Winston Jordan noted that this is the first report from the FIU that he has received. Despite the passage of a No-Confidence Motion against the Government, Jordan was optimistic of having the report tabled in Parliament.

The Minister was also optimistic that the FIU will be preparing similar reports on an annual basis.

The FIU is an autonomous agency that investigates