File is not found

Anti Money Laundering Day in Central America and the Caribbean

Panama, October 29, 2020. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime for Central America and the Caribbean celebrated the Anti-Money Laundering Day with the event "The challenges in the prevention of money laundering and financing of terrorism in times of COVID-19", in which authorities of the highest level of the region participated.

In the activity carried out for Central America the speakers were Esteban Fullin, Executive Secretary of GAFILAT; Ana Virginia Samayoa, head of the UIF (El Salvador); Saulo De León, Special Verification Intendant of UIF; César Castellanos, head of UIF (Honduras) and Jorge Villalba, deputy director of UAF (Panama).

And in the one organized to have a vision of what is happening in the Caribbean, the speakers were Tafawa Pierre, Director of FIU (Grenada); Selvin Hay, director of FIU (Jamaica); Dawne Spicer executive secretary of CFATF; Kirk H. Taitt, director of FIU (Barbados); Mary Campbell, director of FIU (Trinidad and Tobago) and Kent Clare, director of FIU (Belize).

Money Laundering #IsOnLine, Distance and Protect Yourself

UNODC Regional Representative, José Vila del Castillo, was in charge of opening both events: "Every October 29, UNODC, in coordination with the preventive, control and prosecution authorities of the countries in the region, joins efforts to build prevention and awareness actions that prevent the economic advance of the illicit resources of organized crime".

"This year, with the support of all of you, we launched the prevention campaign, whose motto is " Money Laundering #IsOnLine, Distance and Protect Yourself", expressed Vila del Castillo.
The Regional Representative stated that "the COVID-19 crisis has offered unique opportunities to organized crime groups engaged in money laundering, as established in the investigation The impact of COVID-19 on organized crime published by our office in July 2020".
"Organized crime groups are targeting legitimate businesses that are fighting the crisis and infiltrating the legal economy by investing in the struggling sector," the UN official emphasized.
In addition, "these groups are exploiting new markets for medical equipment and infiltrating those sectors of the economy that are becoming lucrative as the pandemic evolves.
He listed that "the pandemic generated dramatic spikes in demand for some sectors, for example, medical devices, pharmaceuticals, e-commerce, food retailing, cleaning and funeral services.

A commitment from all

"This global panorama demands the commitment, articulation and coordination of all the members of the anti-money laundering systems in each country, especially from the areas of prevention, detection and prosecution of these crimes and the recovery of illicit assets," emphasized Vila del Castillo.
"We hope that this webinar will become an important input that will allow them to obtain new tools for the strengthening of their capacities and to be able to generate, among all, the mechanisms required to prevent the use of the financial and non-financial platforms of our countries and to protect our economies from the scourge of money laundering in the difficult times we are living," concluded.