The Commissioner of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), Francis Ben Kaifala, has given an insightful lecture to staff of the Commission at the annual two-day staff retreat and training program organised by the Intelligence and Investigations Department, ACC.
Elucidating on the topic; ‘The Nexus between Money Laundering and Corruption’, the ACC Commissioner described Money Laundry as an act that was done by drug traffickers, and other people involved in some unlawful activities, before politicians and public officials saw this as a perfect avenue to accumulate ill-gotten wealth.
“Where we are now is what we refer to as a Shadow system”, the Commissioner disclosed in his lecture, admonishing the officers to dig deep into their investigations, as public officials are now more creative in being corrupt, and their normal mode of investigations would not be sufficient to prove. He furthered that corrupt individuals spend a lot of time planning and stated that the team must re-strategize in its approach.
The Commissioner noted that in every money laundry activity, the first stage that comes to play is ‘Placement’, which poses the question to the launderer on where to put it; whether to buy a house, invest in business etc. The second he said is the “Layering’, which he said is the most complex, where the launderer finds shrewd ways to direct the monies into buying, selling and even reselling properties, shares etc. in ways that it can pose difficulties to trace.
He noted that ‘Integration’ is the third stage that involves the launderer making attempts to integrate their monies by somehow making donations for example to religious places, or even use these religious institutions or heads to pay or transfer these monies through their Bank Accounts.
He also stated that corporate entities, local banks, companies, etc. are institutions that often aid and abet these money launderers. “Those who launder money are sometimes capable of incorporating thirty five (35) companies”, he averred, noting that, money launderers cunningly keep transferring their monies to multiple companies with different ownerships, and it can be traced by doing a whole mapping to unravel those who actually own different companies in order to establish the beneficiary ownership who are usually the launderers that are in shadow.
Further in his submission, the Commissioner commended the dedication of the staff, noting that their input has immensely contributed to the remarkable achievements of the Commission under his leadership.
He also said that their shrewd intelligence and investigative techniques and the fearsome Elite Scorpion Squad has raised so much awareness and heightened the consciousness of people to understand that the fight against corruption is not business as usual, but that, there are adverse consequences when someone involves in corruption and corrupt practices. He added that people are now afraid of been referred to as been corrupt and public officials no longer brazenly boast or say, as in our local parlance; “usai den tie cow na dae e dae eat”.