Mobilizing Anti-Money Laundering regimes to Combat Wildlife Crime Marilyne Pereira Goncalves, World Bank
Key Messages Wildlife trafficking is a crime for profit Wildlife trafficking is a serious transnational crime Effective enforcement needs to go beyond what is happening in the forest Poaching Transport Export/ImportSale
Adding to the Toolkit Mobilizing the Criminal Justice System and the “Follow the Money Trail” Approach “Follow the money trail” approach as an additional tool included in the UN Convention on Transnational Organized Crime, the UN Convention Against Corruption and the FAFT International Standards Allows to trace, locate, freeze and ultimately confiscate assets that are the proceeds of crime – Environmental crimes are predicate offences to money laundering Focuses on the dismantlement of criminal networks (big fish vs. small fish) and contributes to fight corruption
4 Money is Information Money is Intelligence Money is Evidence Adding to the Toolkit The 3 Functions of Money Anti-money laundering regimes: detecting criminal activities by following the money; using financial intelligence by enforcing due diligence measures on financial institutions and other intermediaries; Prosecuting a wide range of individuals involved in crime, including those engaged in disguising the illicit origin of criminal assets
Developing an Integrated Criminal Justice Strategy for Wildlife Trafficking Integrate criminal justice as part of the strategy to combat environmental crimes Adopt integrated criminal justice strategy: Focus on follow the money, the “master minds” and corrupt officials Improve domestic cooperation at both policy and operational level Enlist the private sector and engage civil society actors Mobilize international cooperation mechanisms
Conclusions Ensure that wildlife related offenses are predicate offenses to ML Work with financial intelligence units and financial regulators to better understand the financial flows related to wildlife trafficking (i.e. redflags, guidelines to the financial sector) Provide adequate training to the law enforcement community and include “follow the money trail” approach in development assistance strategies targeting wildlife law enforcement Reach out to the FATF and regional AML bodies to build political momentum and improve regional and international cooperation
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