AS LIBERIA DRAW CLOSER TO EVALUATION PROCESS
The Director-General of the Financial Intelligence Unit of Liberia (FIU) Edwin Harris, has disclosed that Liberia risks serious economic sanction from international partners and other private donors and investors if the government of Liberia through its relevant authorities fails to work in compliance with the Inter-Governmental Action Group(GIABA) Against Money Laundering in West Africa ‘’mutual evaluation’’ recommendations report process.
The Inter-Governmental Action Group Against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA) was established by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Authority of Heads of States and Governments in the year 2000.
GIABA is a specialized institution in ECOWAS that is responsible for strengthening the capacity of member states for the prevention and control of money laundering and terrorist financing in the region. The institution is also responsible for felicitating the adoption and implementation of Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Counter-financing and Terrorism (CFT) in West Africa with a TATF-style regional body working with its members to ensure compliance with international AML/CTF standards.
The mutual evaluation and a follow-up report by GIABA look at key areas including the political situation, economic and financial situation, prevalence of predicate crimes, Anti-money laundering situation, technical assistance, and conclusion of its member’s state. Liberia joined GIABA in 2010 and had it first report on Liberia on May 5, 2011.
Speaking in an interview on a local radio station in Monrovia OK FM Tuesday June 14, 2022, Mr. Harris said when GIABA did the first evaluation they established that Liberia was not in compliance with the Terrorist Financing in West Africa (FATF) recommendation and recommended the establishment of the FIU in Liberia.
During the interview, he said, they are working on a communication to be presented to the Office of President George Manneh Weah to ensure that the relevant lines ministries and agencies that are part of the mutual evaluation comply and take it seriously because, according to him, he has written them and they have failed to honor his request, adding that FIU is just the regulator but it is the country process.
He added that this time, Liberia will be evaluated based on technical effects on whether or not all of Liberia’s laws passed are consonant with the FATF and GIABA recommendations are actually implementing the law base on its effective position.
Mr. Harris continued that, this has been very difficult for the FIU because it is a national process that involved all of the respective government agencies, including Finance, Land, Authority, Mine and Energy, Central Bank of Liberia, Environmental Protection Service, and Lottery and others.
The FIU Chief Executive at the same time expressed dismay over government institution’s failure to cooperate and implement the mutual evaluation, mentioning it is unfortunate that none of those institutions has participated, to spend money on the process rather than the FIU alone, something which he said is draining their staffs and they are aware of the situation.
‘’If the mutual evaluation comes out and it is dirty for Liberia, it will hamper the country because the report will be all over and published on major websites and Liberia will not get any investment and investor because on those websites investors will read the information before coming to a country to invest or do any business. This will not make international partners and investors take Liberia serious because it shows that we do not care, and they will say we have no processes in place. Our country is a place of money laundry”, he further alarmed.
Additionally, he expressed his biggest surprise over the Central Bank of Liberia’s failure to comply, stating that the Bank is the biggest supervisor body in Liberia because all of the commercial banks and insurance companies had been supervised by them but yet they refused to honor this process that may cause Liberia serious problem.
“In December 2020 when I came from plenary, I wrote the governor of the Central Bank of Liberia, Mr. Aloysius Tarlue on the mutual evaluation, and to this date, he has not replied me. All the Central Banks in West Africa, when there is mutual evaluation pay 50% of the total cost, they deployed staffs but our Central Bank is quiet. However, I am thinking about what is going on especially when the current CBL boss works in compliance before. Because when you work in Compliance you will know the importance, and consequences of failing in mutual evaluation.”
The Director-General further indicated that when Liberia fails in mutual evaluation, the entity that will suffer is the CBL, not commercial banks, as such, he used his engagement with the press, since he has written the CBL authority countless letters and it fails to reply him to come forth, saying this is not an FIU process but the process of Liberia because Liberians may suffer the effects of the consequences of this major evaluation goes wrong.
Touching particularly on the Ministry of Mine and Energy, he noted that the ministry is not even showing compliance because it has refused to honor letters of the FIU. We are doing a letter to the President to inform these people that this process is not only coordinated by the FIU but its government process, he added.
Reported by: Stephen G. Fellajuah
WhatsApp: +231777015294
Email: fellajuahstepheng@gmail.com
