The plan to make the Financial Investigations Division (FID), which is currently part of the Ministry of Finance & the Public Service, into a department with greater budgetary and human resources capacity and autonomy is critical to giving the agency the operational leeway in expanding investigations that may involve other domestic and overseas partners.
Minister without portfolio in the finance ministry, Fayval Williams, says the move, which was first announced earlier this year, is meant to fit with international best practices.
She said FID is quietly garnering success in using the tools available under the Proceeds of Crime Act to restrain and recover proceeds of crime, noting that recent cases include large cash seizures and significant civil recoveries.
Last month, the FID launched its goAML reporting platform, which allows the financial sector to make their suspicious transaction reports electronically.
Williams said the software will allow for better data mining to assess the major money-laundering trends and typologies taking place in the jurisdiction. It will also help the FID to assess and sift through the more than 300,000 suspicious transaction reports made annually.
Other measures currently being employed include the appointment of receivers to administer seized properties and the assessment of pecuniary penalties post-conviction, said Williams, while addressing the seventh annual Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) conference, a two-day event that ends today, Wednesday.
“No doubt the progress in this particular area formed the basis for the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) rating Jamaica as substantially effective in the area of confiscation measures,” she said.
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