Following the appointment of a Director and Deputy Director of the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) last year, Attorney General Basil Williams SC has said that the agency is working.
The National Assembly’s Committee of Appointments identified Matthew Edward Hugh Langevine as Director and Abiose Thomas as his Deputy last year.
During a press conference at his office on Wednesday, Williams said Langevine has already attended a Countering the Financing of Terrorism conference when Guyana was removed from the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF) list. “They are onboard and they are working,” he said, before adding that both officials are part of government’s compliance team.
He noted that it has to be widened to include the head of the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) Sydney James and a representative of the Bank of Guyana. James, he said, needs to start attending CFATF meetings.
He said that he had appointed a special advisor to deal with the Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) administration and to assist with his responsibilities associated with his position as deputy chair of CFATF.
Williams was referring to attorney Tessa Oudkerk. In a press release issued last week, the Ministry of Legal Affairs had said that Oudkerk pursued studies in law at the University of Trent and the Bar Professional Training Course at College of Law in the United Kingdom and was called to the Bar of England and Wales in November 2012 by the Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, of which she is a member. She was admitted to the Bar of Anguilla in April, 2015, the release said.
Oudkerk worked in Anguilla as a Money Laundering Compliance and Reporting Officer. “She is now certified by the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (ACAMS) as a specialist in anti-money laundering and financial crimes investigations.
Ms. Oudkerk is a member of ACAMS and the United Kingdom chapter of ACAMS,” the release said, while adding that her duties will include assisting Williams in the execution of his functions in respect of the AML/CFT regime and his work relating to the CFATF and the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
Williams, during the press conference, expressed hope that he would be named Chair when the CFATF conference is held in Guyana in November this year. He said that the appointment of the special advisor was made based on the advice of his Trinidad counterpart.
Meanwhile, he said that there has already been some training with respect to the prosecution of money laundering matters. Williams had previously said that with Guyana no longer in danger of being on the FATF blacklist, the focus now will be on securing money laundering convictions and that training is necessary for all those who have a part to play in making this a reality.
