FIC received 719 suspicious transactions in 2016

The Financial Intelligence Centre received a total of 719 suspicious transactions and spontaneous disclosures, the 2016 Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing trends has revealed.

The report reveals that in the same year, although cases of suspected corruption formed only 6% of the number of cases disseminated, the amount involved was significant and constituted 75% of the value of all disseminated cases.

The report furthermore records that the high number of suspicious transaction reports were recorded in August and this is attributed to the fact that there was a high volume of transactions during the election period.

Giving a presentation on the 2016 Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing trends in Lusaka today, Financial Intelligence Center Director General Mary Tshuma says 661 suspicious transaction reports were received by the center with the value of over K1.1 billion.

Mrs. Tshuma says the highest amount in terms of value of transactions was in August with a total of K269, 995, 688 while the second highest was July with a total amount of K221, 273, 744.

She says 114 reports of suspicious transactions were reported to the law enforcement agencies.

Mrs Tshuma has since expressed concern that despite disseminating these reports to relevant authorities no convictions or forfeitures were reported.

And in his welcoming remarks, FIC Chairman John Kasanga observed the need to harness the expertise and information found in different government agencies.

Mr. Kasanga says sharing of information is just one form of interagency cooperation that should be promoted to effectively counter money laundering and terrorist financing.

The 2016 Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing trends report was officially launched by Attorney General Likando Kalaluka, who is also the Head of the Money laundering Committee.