Namibia’s financial intelligence unit flagged N$329 million as “potential proceeds of crime” in the course of last year, the Bank of Namibia has said.
Investigations into tax assessments also red-flagged assessments worth N$69.3 million, money that the financial intelligence unit deemed not ‘kosher’.
“Possible offenses identified during analyses of the [308] reports received [during the year] were, among others, corruption, fraud, tax evasion, contravention of exchange control regulation, rhino poaching, theft, diamond smuggling, illegal scams and illegal casino gambling,” the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) reported in the Bank of Namibia annual report for the period between January and December 2014.
FIC says in 2014 it shared 170 intelligence reports, its own reports, with law enforcement agencies after “proactive analysis” of transactions that reeked of money laundering, terrorism financing and proliferation financing.
The FIC unit also dispatched 56 reports on requests from law enforcement agencies and foreign financial intelligence units who had requested FIC information to supplement own investigations.
“The aim of these reports was to facilitate the seizing, freezing and confiscation of suspected proceeds of crime within Namibia and in foreign jurisdictions,” says the Financial Intelligence Centre.