Who is Gareth Williams? > > Tuesday, October 24 6:26 PM SGT > Pacific Rim conference highlights fight against dirty money > > VANCOUVER, Canada, Oct 24 (AFP) - Asia's golden triangle nations are failing > to tackle money laundering even as the problem reaches epic proportions > worldwide and overwhelms police resources in some countries, experts told a > conference here. > > "All money laundering is a reflection of the amount of crime in a society," > Superintendent Gareth Williams, head of the joint financial intelligence > unit with the Hong Kong police force, told a money laundering conference > here. > > "It is only recently that we have become proficient in confiscating the > money," he added. > > More than 700 law enforcement, government, legal and financial industry > representatives from 50 different countries are attending the four-day > Pacific Rim Money Laundering and Financial Crime Conference that began here > Monday. > > Williams, a keynote speaker at the conference, said countries were slowly > beginning to implement countermeasures to combat drug trafficking and > financial crimes, the chief sources of illicit proceeds. > > Financial kingpins in Asia, Hong Kong and Singapore are leading the fight > against dirty money, he said. > > Hong Kong made money laundering illegal 11 years ago. By contrast Thailand > passed its first anti-money laundering laws just last year. > > "It is a brand new issue for almost every country," said Williams. "Most > countries still don't have a good reporting system." > > Williams named Thailand as one of four Asian countries that have been > blacklisted as money-laundering havens by the Hong Kong police force. > > An estimated 20 per cent of Thailand's gross domestic product comes from > illicit money connected to the prostitution and drug trade, experts said. > > There is an estimated one trillion US dollars laundered from the illicit > drug trade annually. > > Williams also named Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos as three other nations which > have failed to attack the problem and comply with international regulations. > > All four nations are part of the Golden Triangle which accounts for the > majority of heroin produced in the region before it is shipped off to > Australia and North America. > > The former Portuguese colony of Macau is not on the force's blacklist but > Williams said they warn criminal investigators and people in the banking > sector about money that comes from Macau's casinos, which have been a magnet > for secret triad societies or Asian criminal gangs. > > "One of the best ways for criminals to launder money is through casinos," > said Williams. > > He said he had been surprised to learn recently that the four Golden > Triangle countries had been left off the Financial Action Task Force's > (FATF) money laundering list of 15 countries and territories considered to > be worst offenders. > > Asked why they were not on the list he said: "It must have something to do > with openness of their economies." > > The only Asian country that made the FATF list was the Philippines and > Williams said it was not even included on Hong Kong's blacklist. > > The FATF list was compiled by representatives of industrialized nations, > including the United States, France, Britain, Australia and Canada. > > Despite the apparent flaws, Williams said the FATF list still carried clout. > > "The last thing countries want is to get on this (FATF) list," he said. > > The countries on the FATF list are: Bahamas, Cayman Islands, Cook Islands, > Dominica, Israel, Lebanon, Liechtenstein, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, > Panama, Philippines, Russia, St. Kitts and Nevis, and St. Vincent and the > Grenadines. -------------------------- eGroups Sponsor -------------------------~-~> <FONT COLOR="#000099">eGroups eLerts It's Easy. It's Fun. Best of All, it's Free! </FONT><A HREF="http://click.egroups.com/1/9698/16/_/475667/_/972419938/"><B>Click Here!</B></A> ---------------------------------------------------------------------_->
