November 5, 2019 | Press Releases

Cayman Uses Real Cases of Criminality, to Thwart Criminality

Real-life criminal attempts – including from the Cayman Islands – involving real estate, drug trafficking, jewellery, non-profit organisations, corporate services, tax evasion, and trade – are being used to sharpen Cayman’s use of law enforcement and regulatory intelligence, to better prevent our Islands’ business regime from being misused.

Details of past attempts, locally and globally, have been compiled into the Cayman Islands Anti-Money Laundering Steering Group’s Money Laundering Typologies and Trends. While the publication’s title focuses on money laundering (ML), it also describes past cases of terrorist financing (TF) and proliferation financing (PF, referring to weapons of mass destruction).

“Although identities of persons and companies are not provided in the publication, the cases will make interesting reading for the public. No doubt it will raise their awareness of these types of crimes,” said the Attorney General, the Hon. Samuel Bulgin, QC.

“But foremost, this publication is for financial institutions, and designated non-financial businesses and professions – a group that includes realtors, dealers of precious metals and stones, lawyers and accountants. Providing these actual cases will help them to develop even more effective policies and procedures to prevent, detect, and respond to these crimes.”

Further underscoring the importance of typologies to fighting criminality, typologies, particularly those relating to the misuse of legal persons feature prominently in outreach sessions held during the week of 4 November for these specific groups and individuals.

National Coordinator Elisabeth Lees said that international consultants Financial Transparency Advisors (FTA) are continuing to support Cayman by facilitating the interactive meetings, as well as an outreach session scheduled for Friday, 8 November.

The Attorney General said the data for the typologies publication come from the Financial Crimes Unit, Royal Cayman Islands Police Service, Cayman Islands Monetary Authority, Financial Reporting Authority, Department of Commerce and Investment, and General Registry; Cayman’s 2015 National Risk Assessment; and international sources.

He thanked the local agencies for their expert support; Chief Officer Reshma Sharma and the Anti-Money Laundering Unit, for coordinating and overseeing the initiative; and Government Information Services for designing the publication.

Ms Lees said the publication is an important step in fulfilling the CFATF’s recommended actions, outlined in its March 2019 report, for further strengthening Cayman’s regime, noting that Cayman has until February 2020 to demonstrate its progress.

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