FIJI is one step ahead in terms of laws to combat money laundering through the casino sector.
This will be defined under the Anti-Money Laundering Framework under the Financial Transaction Reporting Act.
“The obligations and requirements that we will have for banks, accountants and lawyers, if we do have a casino and then those obligations will also be applied to the casino sector,” Fiji Financial Intelligence Unit director Razim Buksh said.
Mr Buksh said this meant Fiji would have a system of transparency and uniformity for financial service providers.
“And the casino sector is a high risk sector because traditionally we have been concentrating on commercial banks, remittance service providers and finance companies.”
And when these institutions begin to tighten their controls, he said, criminals would shift their focus to doing transactions with lawyers, accountants and real estate agents.
“And if Fiji does have a casino, we should be equally prepared to deal with the vulnerability and risk.”
FIU has been working with the government on the laws and requirements for companies that want to build casinos in the country.
“If somebody offshore or our people want to do the casino business then the requirement kicks in,” he said.
“If there is any suspicion that money could be linked to the proceeds of crime coming in to launder their money then the casino operator has a legal mandate to report that suspicious transaction to FIU.”
source : www.fijitimes.com
