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Some used-car dealers, hardware merchants, and real estate agents and developers are again being singled out as facilitators of breaches of the million-dollar limit for cash transactions in Jamaica, and possibly participating in, or at least leaving the door open to other financial crimes, including money laundering.
The latest charge comes from Selvin Hay, chief technical director of the Financial Investigation Division, FID, as he spoke at the annual Anti-Money Laundering/Counter-Financing of Terrorism, or AML/CFT, conference, hosted by the Jamaica Bankers Association and the Jamaica Institute of Financial Services.
Hay urged financial sector representatives to step up their reporting of suspicious transactions.
“I know [that] law enforcement needs to do more in terms of intelligence gathering — and I have been speaking about this, because a lot of intelligence is on the ground that we are not capturing — but we all have a role to play in this fight against money laundering,” he told the conference, held October 11-12.
Property developers are not included in Jamaica’s AML/CFT legislative regime. Neither are lawyers, who are fighting their inclusion with a case now before the United Kingdom Privy Council, challenging amendments to the Proceeds of Crime Act 2007 and regulations. They are also objecting to changes to the Legal Professional Act and Canons, and the issuance by the General Legal Council of Jamaica, of anti-money laundering guidelines that compel attorneys to report money laundering and other possible financial crimes by their clients or face imprisonment.