Former Attorney General Anil Nandlall has said that he had previously told the government that using the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) to investigate matters outside of financial crimes may violate Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recommendations but was ignored.
In correspondence sent to Stabroek News, Nandlall, who was instrumental in the establishment of SOCU, under the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) legislation, stated that the unit’s scope has been expanded under the recently released operation protocols.
An amendment to the Guyana Police Force’s Standing Order No. 62, which was submitted to Parliament by Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan last month, includes the investigation of crimes such as murders, piracy and smuggling, which traditionally fall under the ambit of the police, among SOCU’s mandate.
However, Nandlall pointed out that these protocols expand the mandate and the scope of SOCU outside and beyond its original mandate, which was, the investigation of offences created by the AML/CFT legislation. It now has the mandate to investigate murder, piracy, environmental offences and a whole host of offences which are not “organised” crimes, he noted.
“I have no doubt that these protocols would have been deliberated at and approved by Cabinet, which would have included Attorney General Mr. Basil Williams. Over the last year, I had cause to explain in the press, ad nauseam, that the creation of a Specialised Crime Unit to investigate solely and exclusively AML/CFT offences was a specific recommendation of FATF. I warned that using SOCU to investigate any other offences may violate the relevant FATF recommendations. I was ignored,” he said.
According to Nandlall, the government has done worse as it has “now institutionally expanded the scope of SOCU to investigate offences far and beyond AML/CFT offences. So, currently, we do not have a Special Crime Unit which exclusively investigates AML/CFT offences as is required by the FATF recommendations.’
He said that in preparation for the FATF site visit to Guyana, the Attorney General must have now discovered, after 15 months, the FATF recommendations which require the establishment of this Unit to investigate only AML/CFT offences.
“Hence his sudden recent disclosure that SOCU will have to revert to its original mandate to investigate AML/CFT offences only. All of this could have been avoided if my advice was heeded, in the first place, or the relevant documents were read in a timely manner,” he stressed.
Nandlall added that with no SOCU in place to treat only with AML/CFT offences and in the absence of the “unwarranted, bureaucratic and top-heavy 20 person AML/CFT authority which this government unnecessarily and on its own volition imposed on Guyana’s AML/CFT apparatus, the Attorney General’s bold and boastful prediction that Guyana will soon exit the review process may be an exhibition of misplaced optimism,” he added.
Williams last week said that since SOCU was set up under the AML/CFT legislation, it is important that it performs its core functions related to the legislation “and that it is not burdened with other police work,” which would stymie the operations of the organisation and retard progress under the AML/CFT regime.
As a result, he indicated that it may be separated from the Guyana Police Force.
