Anti Money Laundering Blog

On November 24, 11 former officials of Colombian football club Independiente Medellin were charged with money laundering.

The charged officials included Rodrigo Tamayo, club president in 1998-2000 and 2004, his wife, Dolly Cardenas, and 2 other former presidents, Mario de J. Valderrama and Luis Fernando Jimenez. Conviction carries a term of 6-15 years in prison.

According to the estimations from the club’s former auditor Juan Bautista Avalos Salgar made by prosecutor Cesar Velez, Tamayo might have laundered USD 4.6 million during his terms as president.

Salgar said that one way of laundering money could be selling a player for, for example USD 100, but entering the transaction on the books as USD 1 000. As a result, the extra USD 900 entered on the books was money gained allegedly through drug trafficking.

The United Arab Emirates has introduced new measures in order to prevent and fight with money laundering in the insurance sector.

Deputy director general of the National Insurance Authority, Fatima Mohammed Ishaq Al Awadhi, said that the issuance of the measures is expected to curb future money laundering activities in this industry. Also, Al Awadhi noted that these new measures would be applicable on all insurance companies, including foreign insurance companies operating in the jurisdiction. She emphasized that the insurance companies and the insurance-related professions would be held accountable in case a money laundering crime is committed either in their name or in the name of their companies or accounts intentionally.

Saudi Arabia has a number of measures underway aimed at rooting out terrorism, particularly financing of terrorist organisations and money laundering. This was announced by Dr Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Salem, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Interior.

On November 14, Al Salem addressed the closing session of the 10th Conference on Transnational Crime that was organised by the Crans Montana Forum and held in Paris. Al Salem said Saudi Arabia is opposed to all forms of terrorism and that it will continue its crackdown on criminals intending to disrupt the peace and stability of the country.

Also, he said that Saudi Arabia abides by all international resolutions connected with combating terrorism. The government of Saudi Arabia has signed bilateral agreements with other countries on combating terror funding and money laundering.

On November 10, HM Treasury issued a notice that contains advice about risks posed by unsatisfactory money laundering controls in different jurisdictions. According to the Money Laundering Regulations 2007, firms are required to put in place policies, procedures or systems with a view to  prevent money laundering or terrorist financing. Regulated businesses are obliged to apply enhanced customer due diligence and enhanced ongoing monitoring on a risk-sensitive basis in certain defined situations.

On October 16, 2009, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) issued a further statement that drew attention to deficiencies in several jurisdictions. The United Kingdom fully supported the FATF on these issues and agreed with its assessments.

Additionally, the United Kingdom supported the public statements of MONEYVAL (a FATF style regional body under the auspices of the Council of Europe) in respect of Azerbaijan in December 2008, March 2009 and September 2009.

The government of the United Kingdom has said that it will not relax the country’s anti-money laundering reporting regime, however a House of Lords committee has asked to do so.

In July, the home affairs subcommittee of the House of Lords select committee on the EU made an inquiry into money laundering and the financing of terrorism legislation. It said that the legislation should be amended in order not to prosecute failure to report a suspicious transaction based on a minor criminal offence.

The government responded that it prefers so-called “the all-crimes approach” and that, if the House of Lords’ proposal was made law, some valuable intelligence opportunities might be missed.

According to the UK’s government, individuals who submit a suspicious activity report (SAR) to the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) for the 1st time will be given one-to-one guidance on how to do this. Their SAR will be examined by SOCA, and feedback will be provided.