2012 Report of the Intergovernmental ACTION GROUP AGAINST MONEY LAUNDERING IN WEST AFRICA

Senegal ... The best student of the ECOWAS

The GIABA conducted yesterday under the chairmanship of the Director General Abdullahi Shehu presentation of its 2012 annual report at the fourth annual briefing for the ECOWAS Ambassadors and development partners. A report that ranks the best student of Senegal ECOWAS countries in the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing in 2012 as opposed to 2011.

Senegal best student. Senegal, best student of ECOWAS countries in the fight against money laundering and the fight against terrorist financing. This does not happen every year. Accustomed bad students in the field and in the respect of human rights, Senegal since the advent of the second vibration, seems to fit in a good momentum. Even if the CEO GIABA did not want to try the game ranking ECOWAS countries in this report, a careful analysis of data contained in the report clearly shows that the various assessments that countries were submitted Senegal is out of the lot. Of the 15 ECOWAS countries evaluated, Senegal had the best evaluation. He earned the highest score line with 6 points against 3 for the immediate next of Guinea. Senegal has also received the highest score for the largely consistent recommendation (Lc) with 13 points against 9 for the immediate following the Gambia. Regarding poor grades (improper recommendations) the Senegal took the floor 12 while his immediate following, Nigeria is 18 points. Also on the 16 key recommendations and key, only Senegal has fewer than 9 partially compliant and noncompliant, putting the head in Senegal compared to ECOWAS countries. "Other honorable result Senegal, always after this report, it is the first francophone countries of West Africa to join the global network of the most successful intelligence units in 2009 (the Egmont group), followed by Côte d'Ivoire in 2010. The Senegal sponsored Cameroon who was admitted in 2010, Mali in 2011, also the Burkina and Togo which have been admitted last week "says an inside source at GIABA. This means that today, Senegal is one of the few countries where judicial decisions were made and sentences imposed on perpetrators. Indeed, according to the report in 2012, from January to June 2012, the FIU / Crf received 58 suspicious statements (Dos) against 92 cases in 2011 and 84 in 2010, according to the report 2011de FIU (National Processing Unit of financial information). This shows the great step forward in Senegal since the advent of President Macky Sall to power. The FIU has, in 2012, sent four reports to the Ministry of Justice and filed 13 cases of serious crimes at the origin of Dos included offenses of fraud, forgery and use of forgery of private documents, corruption, trafficking narcotics, aggravated fraud charges (419). During the same period, the following legal decisions have been registered with the Ministry of Justice: Two cases of liberation, a case of dismissal and a conviction. His figures are far lower than the 2011 report of the FIU, in which 17 cases were forwarded to the Attorney for judicial treatment against 15 in 2010. There were 74 cases of indictment, 6 cases of provisional measures, 27 arrest warrants, 16 remand, 8 letters rogatory, 27 orders of deposits, 10 convictions, one acquittal and 15 dismissed. These good results are due Senegal according to the report by the fact that during the period under review, Senegal has taken important legislative and regulatory measures to make his regime Lbc / Ft more efficient, particularly in the fight against the illicit enrichment. Thus, for the implementation of illicit enrichment, President Macky Sall issued Decree No. 2012-502 of 10 May 2012 appointing members of the seat of the Court for the Repression of Illicit enrichment. In addition, the government submitted the law No. 13/2012, for the creation of the National Anti-Corruption Office (OFNAC), which was adopted by the National Assembly during its meeting on 19 December 2012. Under the leadership of the FIU, Senegal has continued with the development of its national strategy document to Lcb / Ft which, due to some delay, was not finalized in September 2012 as planned. In the light of legislation and regulation undertaken by the new Senegalese authorities, the report says, it is clear that Senegal has shown a firm intention and determination to fight corruption, curb the misuse of public funds and above all eradicate mismanagement. The country needs to be accompanied in this dynamic by its technical and financial partners to ensure that these actions are successful.
Case Luc Nicolai? Notes, however, does the report said, the underlying crimes, particularly drug trafficking, remain major challenges in Senegal during the year covered by the report. In August 2012, for example, the repressive forces have dismantled a large network of dealers of counterfeit notes and arrested two Lebanese-Syrian. Significantly, a Senegalese member of the network was a close associate, a Politically Exposed Person (Ppe) in the country. Searches and seizures by the National Police led to the seizure of counterfeit banknotes of 500 Euros or $ 100 to whiten. The law enforcement officers also arrested a famous event promoter (editor's note: Luc Nicolai), a hotel manager (editor's note: Touly Bertrand, manager of Manatee Beach Saly) an indefinite number of customs officers for their alleged involvement in extortion and cocaine to the seaside resort of Saly. A search by two Senegalese Customs agents led to the discovery of 39 pellets of cocaine in the raided areas. All individuals have been arrested, interrogated while investigations are ongoing. It is important to note, the report said that the actions of the services of the Central Office for the Repression of Illicit Drug Trafficking (OCRTIS) who, having seized 3 kg of cocaine on a Guinean singer dismantled a large network traffic International drug using Dakar as a transit point.
The call of the Dg GIABA Macky Sall. May 24, 2012 according to the report, the Director General of GIABA spent a courtesy call to President Macky Sall to congratulate him on his well-deserved popular election and to draw attention to the lack of prosecution of cases of money laundering despite the number of cases referred to the prosecutor by the FIU. Even where such crimes were brought to justice, the outcomes have been seriously questioned by lawyers and the international community. In its response the report notes, the President Macky Sall informed the DG that his government was based on transparency and accountability and gave guidelines for the creation of a commission of recovery of property, and assured that justice will be made in all cases.
HAROUNA FALL