US credits Guyana for progress in money laundering fight

Guyana has made significant progress on the Anti-Money Laundering (AML) front but there is need for more investigations as well as successful prosecutions, according to the recently released United States International Narcotics Control Strategy Report.

“The FIU [Financial Intelligence Unit] referred 21 cases to SOCU [Special Organised Crime Unit] for investigation in 2018. SOCU launched investigations into these and other reports of suspicious transactions, but there have not been any convictions to date. The authorities report non-cooperation by stakeholders with SOCU and lack of capacity within SOCU hinder its success at prosecutions,” the report said.

Guyana was among 82 “major money laundering jurisdictions” which were identified for 2018 in the report that was submitted by the United States State Department to the US Congress on March 28th, 2019. The report pointed out that Guyana is a transit country for South American cocaine destined for Europe, West Africa, the United States, Canada, and the Caribbean. Cocaine is concealed in legitimate commodities and smuggled via commercial maritime vessels, air transport, human couriers, or the postal services, it noted.