Intelligence unit aims to widen net
THE Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) will have a wider access to information regarding suspicious transactions and individuals once it gets access to the INTERPOL database.
FIU director Razim Buksh yesterday said with its database and expertise, the unit had the capacity to provide real-time information which ranged from investments in bonds, securities and any similar transaction performed by persons under scrutiny.
The FIU made its submission on its 2018 annual report to the parliamentary Standing Committee on Economic Affairs yesterday.
Mr Buksh said the FIU's Unexplained Wealth Taskforce was profiling three cases of unexplained wealth which would be handed over to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions for further action.
The taskforce is made up of representatives from the FIU, Fiji Police Force, Fiji Revenue and Customs Service and FICAC.
According to the 2018 annual report, the total value of suspicious transactions that were reported to the FIU in 2018 increased to $78.8 million from $49.1m in 2017.
It said there had been an increase in the number of high-value suspicious transactions reported to the FIU in 2018 and a decrease in the number of low-value suspicious transactions reported in the same period.
According to the report, the average value of a transaction reported in 2018 as suspicious was $124,672 compared with $75,503 in 2017.
Meanwhile, the annual report highlighted that the FIU had noted a decline in the following trends:
a) The use of fraudulent documentation to conduct financial transactions; and
b) Number of impersonation cases reported to the FIU.
Mr Buksh said in its efforts to protect businesses and individuals from becoming victims of fraud scams, the FIU conducted regular awareness programs and would continue to do so.