Press Release No 24 –
Specialised Training On Investigating Money Laundering
Press Release No : 24/2013
Date : 03 September 2013
15 Police officers from the Northern Division will receive specialised training on investigating money laundering activities and identifying and confiscating tainted proceeds that may be linked to criminal activities.
A two-day workshop will be held on 3-4 September 2013 at the Friendly North Hotel in Labasa on the topic “Money laundering and following the Proceeds of Crime”.
Commissioner of Police, Brigadier General Iowane Naivalurua said that the workshop is part of continuing efforts by the Fiji Police Force to build the capacity and skills of investigators to effectively conduct financial investigations and how to follow money trails as provided under Fiji’s anti-money laundering laws as well as the recently introduced law on unexplained wealth.
The workshop is jointly organised by the Fiji Police Force and the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) with funding from the Reserve Bank of Fiji.
The Director of the FIU, Mr Razim Buksh said that the FIU is happy to team up again with the Fiji Police Force to run this workshop. A similar workshop was held in late 2012 for police investigators in the western division. Mr Buksh said that investigators play an important role in the fight against complex crimes such money laundering. Proceeds that are linked to criminal activities such as fraud, corruption, tax evasion and other crimes need to be laundered so that the monetary proceeds are transformed and hidden and are difficult to trace by the law enforcement authorities. Therefore, the investigators need to be thoroughly aware of the investigative techniques and the need for coordination and networking between the relevant agencies. This partnership between the FIU and the Fiji Police Force is recognition of the important role that the Fiji Police Force plays in this area.
The Labasa workshop will be attended by crime officers, crime sergeants and fraud investigators based at various Police Stations from Labasa, Nabouwalu, Savusavu, Seaqaqa, Taveuni and Tukavesi.