May.19, 2010, 08:13

Bandar Seri Begawan - With its clean status and low crime rate, Brunei Darussalam may be perceived as an easy target for money launderers.

Though there are no reports of money laundering in the country, the public needs to be well-informed of these types of illegal activities in order to combat money laundering and terrorism financing. This was stated by Dr Norhashimah Mohd Yasin, an associate professor and specialised trainer in measures against money laundering and terrorism financing from the speaker at the 'Money Laundering Workshop' held at the iCentre in Anggerek Desa yesterday.

She spoke of the strategies and effects of this type of crime. "Money launderers are getting very clever and sneaky these days. They are diversifying. Regardless (of whether) a country is small or big, it is vulnerable to this type of crime," she said.

She said Brunei and Malaysia are trading nations, so they must have a good name to attract foreign direct investment. Otherwise no country would want to invest. Money laundering could also affect the tourism industry if tourists perceive a country as unsafe and not protected by laws, she said.

Examples of money laundering-linked activities include drug trafficking and illegal deposit takers. She said the criminals use innocent people to collect money, so it high time for Brunei to be aware of the measures, otherwise money laundering could create all kinds of issues.

The law requires citizens to report any money laundering activities to the authorities because charges could be filed against those who assist or abet this kind of illegal activities, she said. Organised by Crescent, the two-day workshop was attended by over 24 participants, including banking and law personnel from TAIB, BIBD, AIA Co Ltd as well as Ministry of Industry and Primary Resources.

The workshop covered legislation, financial intelligence, investigation procedures and terrorism financing. The morning session focussed on the basic background of money laundering and financial intelligence.

Dr Norhashimah said there are three stages involved in money laundering. First stage is 'placement' where there is the physical disposal of cash proceeds derived from an illegal activity. Second stage is dubbed 'layering' in which complex layers of financial transactions are created to disguise the audit trail and provide anonymity that is moving the money around the banking system, wire transfer the funds, issue cheque, shifting of money from one country to another.

The third stage is integration - criminally derived wealth is turned into 'legitimate funds', for instance, withdrawal of the money from the account and using the money to buy a company, real estate, etc. Meanwhile, the second session highlighted the institutions' obligations and compliance.

"Money laundering investigations will usually begin as a result of the information in Cash Transactions Report (CTR) and Suspicious Transactions Record (STR)," said Dr Norhashimah. In the afternoon session, the participants took part in group exercise to do research and a presentation. The workshop will end today.