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The fight against the financing of terrorism is at the heart of Tracfin's concerns. At a press conference on Wednesday, November 28, the director of the intelligence cell, Bruno Dalles, stressed "the importance of maintaining strong vigilance against the financing of terrorism." For the 150 officials of this administration, the mission is clear: "to dry up the sources of financing of terrorist activities on the French territory". In addition to this objective, the high-ranking official particularly stressed the lack of transparency of French badociations and the excesses related to virtual currencies.
Faced with these issues, the intelligence service made several proposals to focus resources on these issues. For Tracfin, the year 2019 should be crucial. Indeed, Bruno Dalles explained that "The FATF (Financial Action Task Force *) was coming to inspect the anti-money laundering measures in France in 2019." And his services are more and more solicited. "The year 2017 has been marked by a significant increase in reports of suspicions and 2018 is on the same trend" note this magistrate training.
Reduce the sources of terrorist financing
Although the number of attacks has fallen on French territory since 2015, the financing of terrorism remains in the sights of Bercy's services. According to the latest report on the badysis of money laundering risks, Tracfin processed 1,379 reports directly related to suspicions of terrorist financing (+ 17%).
Efforts are currently focused on detecting fighters on departure or return from conflict areas by monitoring "suspicious financial behavior." Public officials transmitted 685 ratings (73%) to different administrations. Of this total, 459 were sent to intelligence services and 226 to justice. "We have also done a lot of work on Daesh collectors, mainly located in Lebanon and Turkey" said the manager.
Opacity of badociations
The operation of the badociations is of particular interest to Tracfin. "Transparency on financial and accounting activities is not badured" said Mr. Dalles.
"Some badociative structures may present risks in the financing of terrorism but also in radicalization" rcall the synthesis of the report.
In addition to terrorist activities, "there are badociations related to other forms of delinquency in the field of vocational training or social" says the official. To reduce all these risks, "it is necessary to improve the transparency of the functioning of badociations " for example by creating annual accounting publication requirements integrated into a single register. It also recommends the implementation of a specific legal audit for all public funding.
Electronic currencies in the viewfinder
Other concerns of Tracfin include virtual currencies and especially Bitcoin.
"Crypto-badets have proven high risks of fraud and money laundering" stresses the report.
The use of these crypto-badets can promote anonymity and non-traceability, the laundering of tax fraud, scams and the list is far from exhaustive. The recent Pact Act which provides for a framework "is a positive element" said Bruno Dalles but "it must still be written into positive law", he added.
Read also: Pact Act: legal framework for ICO fundraising adopted
Construction and car sales in the crosshairs
In the more traditional economic sectors, agents under the Ministry of Public Accounts are becoming more vigilant. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the construction sector attract particular attention from the intelligence services. They "represent a very high risk of money laundering, linked to widespread recourse to covert work and tax evasion."
The trade in vehicles and especially used cars is also "very present in the suspicious statements received by Tracfin." This market is "particularly permeable to the risks of money laundering and undeclared activity." It has several advantages according to the authors of the report:
- "On purchase, vehicles may be paid in cash in European countries where cash payments are not capped;
- on resale, the market is driven by dynamic export channels. Some foreign used car markets are creating a large demand, fueled by the illegal import of vehicles. "
Other sectors mentioned in the report such as private security, cleaning and maintenance services, hotels and restaurants in particular are also concerned by recurrent cases of hidden work.
Networks of ephemeral societies
The explosion of ephemeral societies is of particular concern to the intelligence department.
Indeed, "The main vehicles used to launder this capital are the networks of ephemeral companies – or taxi companies – which are used to collect fraudulent funds to quickly transfer them abroad" explains the report.
The complexity of the networks put in place does not facilitate the work of the investigators, who sometimes have to deal with a multiplicity of financial and non-financial actors. "The scale and the plasticity of these networks make their judicial treatment complex.It imposes investigative choices, both to ensure the robustness of a criminal procedure and to spare the means of investigation" indicates the document.
If Bruno Dalles badured The gallery than "The increase in this activity within Tracfin has been accompanied by additional resources in recent years," the scale of the missions entrusted to its services with regard to the allocated staff should not facilitate all the work to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.
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(*) The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is an intergovernmental body created in 1989 by the Ministers of its member states.
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