Guyana will soon be establishing a Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) that will be dedicated to the investigation and prosecution of suspected financial transactions.
Cabinet on Tuesday approved a ‘turn key’ approach for the creation and operationalisation of the unit. Head of the Presidential Secretariat (HPS), Dr Roger Luncheon told the media of this development on Wednesday.
He said the unit will be based at Police headquarters, Eve Leary, under the supervision of acting Police Commissioner Seelall Persaud and will collaborate with the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU).
Dr Luncheon said the SOCU is intended to be Guyana’s response to its treaty obligation to investigate suspicious financial transactions that are related to money laundering and its creation is in response to non-parliamentary recommendations from the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF).
The HPS said Cabinet’s approval will be used for the recruitment of investigators from suitable members of the Joint Services and the security sector and it is anticipated that the unit would be in place within the next 12 to 14 weeks. Funding for its operations has also been approved by Cabinet.
Bilateral and multinational partners have been approached and have shown interest in supporting the SOCU, Dr Luncheon said. It is the intention to have as soon as possible a professional and competent capacity in Guyana to investigate such offences, he added.
The HPS further explained that the FIU is tasked with monitoring the financial sector and information compiled will be passed on to the SOCU. Investigations will follow to establish whether transactions are indeed money laundering or financing terrorism. If so, prosecution would follow.
Dr Luncheon added that the FIU operates without reference to the administration, Police or Cabinet and information will be going straight to the SOCU. Investigators for the SOCU will receive training from a trained and skilled foreign investigator, who will act as a partner to the SOCU Head for the next three years.
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