BY EDITOR
11th December 2015
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Elephant and rhino poaching has become a big concern in East Africa, affecting tourism which is a key foreign exchange earner.
Money laundering and terrorist financing activities have significant effects on the attainment of a country’s national goals; if money laundering and terrorist financing are not fought effectively, it means efforts being undertaken by the government to alleviate poverty and raise living standards will not succeed.
In recognition of the effects that money laundering and terrorist financing can have in achieving national goals and cognisant of international efforts in this important area, Tanzania is determined and committed to combat money laundering and terrorist financing and has joined the international community in fighting money laundering and combating terrorist financing. The government is committed to the protection of the reputation of the financial sector and other sectors by doing all that is possible to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.
Money laundering is money earned through criminal activities said to be “dirty”. For this reason, criminals whose main goal is to profit from their criminal acts, have to “cleanse” such money of its illicit origin.
In order to enjoy their ill-gotten gains, criminals commonly seek to disguise the illegal source of their profits. Money laundering is the term applied to the act of concealing the origins of such money and releasing it undetected into legitimate business activities, the purpose being to prevent it from being tracked and confiscated by the government.
Money laundering is most commonly associated with criminal activities such as drug trafficking, corruption, kidnapping, extortion, tax evasion, trafficking people and a range of other criminal activities.
We commend the establishment of the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) in Tanzania. The Unit was established under section 4 of the Anti Money Laundering Act of 2006 to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism.
The FIU is responsible for receiving suspicious transaction reports from reporting persons, in relation to suspected money laundering and terrorist financing activities, analysing and disseminating intelligence to appropriate law enforcement agencies for investigation and further action.
The FIU is an integral part of Tanzania's efforts in the fight against the global crimes of money laundering and terrorist financing. Preventing organised crime and ensuring Tanzania's security are responsibilities we all share.
During the 22nd Plenary of the Egmont group of Financial Intelligence Units meeting in June, 2014, the Chairs congratulated the FIUs of Angola, Brunei Darussalam, Chad, Ghana, Jamaica, Namibia, Sint Maarten and Tanzania who were endorsed as new members of the Egmont Group during the meeting.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN
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