–as Guyana adopts ‘follow the money’ approach to dismantling criminal enterprises

GUYANA is moving towards a more asset-focused approach to combatting organised and transnational crime, with new Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) legislation expected to place greater emphasis on tracing, freezing and forfeiting criminal assets.
Attorney-General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall, SC, said the shift was among the key messages emerging from the recent Regional Conference of the Americas for Interpol, which brought together senior law enforcement officials from 37 countries in Guyana last week.
During this week’s airing of his weekly show, Issues in the News, Nandlall said international law enforcement is increasingly moving beyond the seizure of illegal commodities to targeting the financial resources of criminal enterprises.
“The new trend in Law Enforcement is to follow the money and go after the assets of the criminals and the criminal enterprises,” Nandlall said.
He noted that Interpol Secretary General Valdecy Urquiza had highlighted at the conference the growing connection between drug trafficking and illicit mining, as criminal organisations diversify their activities and seek new ways to manage their proceeds.
Nandlall said Guyana’s AML/CFT legislation, currently being developed, will reflect this changing approach, particularly in relation to the forfeiture of assets and proceeds of crime.
“That is why our new AML/CFT Bill, which we are currently working on, places great emphasis on those remedial and procedural areas, forfeiture of assets and proceeds of crime,” he said.
The Attorney-General said the courts will have an increasingly important role under the emerging framework, with prosecutors expected to make applications for orders targeting assets suspected of being connected to criminal activity.
He said these could include freezing orders to restrict access to bank accounts, detention orders concerning properties, and forfeiture orders to confiscate assets implicated in or considered proceeds of crime.
Nandlall said magistrates and judges must, therefore, become familiar with the emerging dimension of criminal justice, while prosecutors are being trained to present increasingly complex financial evidence.
“Prosecutors are being trained in this new endeavour. The legislation is now being crafted to achieve these new objectives, and therefore, those who are charged with the responsibility of interpreting and applying those legislation must necessarily become part of this machinery,” he said.
Nandlall related that the approach will require coordination among multiple investigative and enforcement agencies, including the Guyana Police Force, Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit, Guyana Revenue Authority, Financial Intelligence Unit, Special Organised Crime Unit and Guyana Geology and Mines Commission.
Nandlall also pointed to the need for greater international cooperation, particularly by the Financial Intelligence Unit with its counterparts and international agencies.
He said law enforcement agencies must develop the capacity to conduct sophisticated financial and forensic investigations, including analysing movements of money and large volumes of financial records.
“The criminals are investing heavily in technology, in equipment, and they are exploiting every new innovation available,” Nandlall said.
Against this backdrop, he warned that unless law enforcement agencies respond with comparable sophistication and efficiency, criminal organisations would retain an advantage.
“So, all the important players have to be in sync if we are to succeed against a very evolving and sophisticated criminal world,” he said.