‘Nam must tackle corruption smarter’

Jo-Maré Duddy – Namibia’s Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) in its past financial year blocked nearly N$34.2 million in total in bank accounts which were suspected proceeds of crime.The FIC, which helps to combat money laundering, as well as the financing of terrorism and proliferation, has the power to restrict bank accounts suspected of holding proceeds of crime by directing institutions and entities not to proceed with carrying out transactions involving the funds for a period of 12 days.According to the FIC’s annual report for 2019/20, which was released yesterday, the frozen amount is significantly lower than the nearly N$471.9 million blocked the previous financial year.Intelligence provided by the FIC to the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), ministry of finance, Namibian police, the Office of the Prosecutor General and foreign financial intelligence units lead to a total value of potential proceeds of crime amounting to N$17 billion which is now subject to investigations.“Developments during the year under review have proved that the Namibian system remains vulnerable to corruption and exploitation, which is something not unique to Namibia,” then governor of the Bank of Namibia (BoN) and chairman of the anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism and proliferation council of the FIC, Iipumbu Shiimi, said in his overview.The FIC has “proved itself again to be a crucial component” in Namibia’s efforts to develop and maintain a reliable, safe and responsive financial system, Shiimi said.However, he added: “Jurisdictions around the world are battling this plague called corruption, and had to devise new and innovative ways to combat it. The time has arrived for Namibia to renew her efforts and explore alternative ways in the detection, prevention and combatting of corruption.”Big numbersIn total nearly N$53.8 billion worth of cash transactions exceeding N$100 000 were reported to the FIC in the year ended 31 March 2020 – an increase of some 340% compared to the around N$12.2 billion in its 2019 book-year.The FIC was also notified of 1 166 suspicious transaction reports (STRs). This brings the total number of STRs scrutinised since its inception in 2009, to 6 568.A total of 209 suspicious activities reports (SARs), noting questionable of dubious behaviour, were filed with the FIC by accountable institutions, reporting entities and members of the public. Since 2014, the FIC has looked into 925 of these reports.The number of both STRs and SARs in 2019/20 was lower than the previous financial year, the FIC’s latest annual report, released yesterday, shows. In 2018/19, 1 328 STRs and 274 SARs were received.However, more cash threshold reports (CTRs), threshold reports of electronic funds transfers (ETFs), informal funds transfers (IFTs), cross border movement of cash (CBMCRs) and additional information reports (AIFs) were received than in 2018/19.Millions of transactionsIn her overview, FIC director Leonie Dunn said the centre’s intelligence in the past financial year played a “key role in identifying and tracking millions of bank transactions and criminal proceeds running into billions of Namibian dollars thus far”.“As a consequence, various law enforcement investigations (domestic and foreign) were undertaken and supplemented which lead to some arrests related to charges of fraud, theft, corrupt activities, poaching, tax evasion and money laundering,” Dunn said.She continued: “Furthermore, intelligence received from foreign jurisdiction bolstered the understanding of criminal networks in Namibia and impacted on the quality of intelligence disclosures to our local law enforcement partners.”

‘Nam must tackle corruption smarter’

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