In order to promote communication and cooperation with the Financial Intelligence Office (GIF), jointly prevent and combat money laundering, and to enhance the professional knowledge of the Judiciary Police (PJ) on the investigation of criminal funds and improve the effectiveness of law enforcement, PJ organized a “Sharing Session on Combating Money Laundering” and invited the Director and staff of GIF to the session. During the meeting, representatives of GIF shared their experience on anti-money laundering (AML), and the two government agencies discussed on how to facilitate information exchange, deepen practical cooperation, and jointly prevent and combat related criminal activities.
Improving measures to deter money laundering
The sharing session was held at the Judiciary Police Building on 20th August 2020, the Director of PJ Mr. Sit Chong Meng, Deputy Director Mr. Chan Kin Hong, Head of Criminal Investigation Department Mr. Vong Chi Hong, Head of Gaming-related and Economic Crimes Investigation Department Mr. Luís Leong, together with 18 department heads and officers who are engaged in the investigation of money laundering crimes, IT crimes, gaming-related crimes and drug-related crimes participated in the session. The Director of GIF Ms. Connie Chu and Deputy Director Ms. Priscilla Fong were invited to lead the staff to share their experience with PJ.
In his speech, the Director of PJ Mr. Sit Chong Meng pointed out that with the development of technology and evolution of new financial instruments, coupled with various factors such as the increasing popularity of internet transactions and the differences in the judicial systems of different regions, money laundering activities have become more complicated and concealed. Law enforcement agencies (LEAs) encounter many difficulties during investigation, especially in identifying and finding clues for suspicious transactions and tracking the flow of illicit funds. As the dedicated department to investigate money laundering crimes, PJ needs to be highly vigilant to the changes in criminal trends. In recent years, the introduction of parallel financial investigation has enhanced the identification of criminal fund flows, thus resulting in a significant improvement in the effectiveness of law enforcement. In response to the constantly evolving crime trends, PJ will continue to strengthen cooperation and information exchange with LEAs, and to raise the level of professionalism of the law enforcement officers.
Ms. Connie Chu, Director of GIF, stated that combating money laundering crimes has always drawn extensive attention worldwide. In order to cut off the source of funds for criminals and prevent money laundering activities, establishing a financial intelligence unit is of great importance. The core function of GIF is to collect and analyze information relating to money laundering, so as to assist LEAs in conducting investigation and stop relevant criminal activities at source. Through this sharing session, she hopes to deepen the interaction and cooperation with PJ and further improve the effectiveness of combating and suppressing money laundering crimes.
Concerted efforts to enhance law enforcement performance
During the session, department heads and officers form PJ shared the practical difficulties and challenges faced throughout the process of investigation based on their respective areas of work, while representatives of GIF shared their work experience based on cases and actual circumstances. Both parties exchanged their thoughts and explored strategies to address the issues. Through this session, PJ hopes to enhance the professional competence of officers in the field of AML by brainstorming. In the future, PJ will continue to promote inter-departmental interactions and cooperation, with the aim to prevent and suppress money laundering activities, and to maintain the financial security and social stability of Macao SAR.
