The Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU), touted as a necessary entity to investigate suspect transactions, is among various agencies set up under the architecture of the anti-laundering legislation but yet to be fully operationalized.
Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee yesterday revealed that the unit is yet to be officially launched but stated that Dr Roger Luncheon, Head of the Presidential Secretariat, who was engaged in negotiating with “external agencies in those matters” back in June, was indicating that the police are undergoing a vetting process to establish active members of SOCU.
Rohee’s explanation of what exactly SOCU has accomplished since it was conceptualised and approved by the Cabinet in November of last year has critics highlighting the government’s lack of tangible efforts being made to enhance enforcement efforts.
Leader of the AFC Khemraj Ramjattan previously told Stabroek News that he was not aware of any official launching of the unit nor was he aware that the unit was functioning. He stated that the government had jumped on an agency bandwagon to assemble a variety or bureaucratic entities but to date nothing has been done.
“There is no need for any specialised ceremony to launch these specialised units to catch specialised crooks in the system,” he said, adding that SOCU along with the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) have yet to produce any results that have led to any conviction of money launders. “The FIU hasn’t, not once, led to any conviction… these new units and how many there are what have they done and what are they doing?” Ramjattan said.
He said that the Anti-Money Laundering and Counterfeiting the Financing of Terrorism (Amendment) Bill is just the legislative aspect and that the enforcement aspect was more important and would measure Guyana’s effectiveness in following through.
Ramjattan said that for SOCU, there has been nothing said of the unit even though there was Cabinet approval in November and the unit was to be operationalised by the beginning of 2014. “This is another unit, another agency that is adding to the bureaucracy…the FIU they wanted to strengthen and they have done nothing. This is not going to give us any confidence that by passing the [AML/CFT] legislation enforcement is going to be followed through,” Ramjattan said.
Initially, when the SOCU was approved by Cabinet, Dr Luncheon had stated that the unit would work alongside the FIU to compile information. The unit was then to act as an intermediary between the FIU and the Director of Public Prosecutions.
He had revealed that the SOCU would comprise skilled investigators trained by an external investigator. Since the unit was approved, however, there has been no official release of how many investigators would make up the unit and who would head it.
