FRAMEWORK OF ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING AND COMBATING OF FINANCIAL TERRORISM IN THE ECOWAS REGION
FRAMEWORK OF ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING AND COMBATING OF FINANCIAL TERRORISM IN THE ECOWAS REGION
By
Oladeji Ifeoluwa Temilolu
1.0 Introduction
Money laundering as a form of cross border crime involves the use of legal tender in a financial transaction in order to conceal the origin, source or destination of such legal tender derived through illegal means. The sole aim of every money launderer is to misrepresent to any law enforcement authority or agency that the source of the funds are clean. As such it would be a difficult task for any enforcement authority to trace the source of the funds and by so doing the money launderers are able to escape prosecution or conviction.
The term money laundering has its origin grounded in the Mafia ownership of Laundromats in the United States which led to the conviction of Ai Capone for tax evasion in the 1920s. Prior to money laundering becoming an international crime, the occurrence of money laundering can only be attributed to financial transaction however in recent times, the scope of money laundering has been widened to other areas, as long as the proceeds is derived from a wrongful act such as drugs, illicit trafficking of arms and persons, trans-border theft, armed robbery, narcotics, tax evasion etc1.
There is a growing recognition that Money laundering and terrorist financing are global phenomena with well-documented evidence, that both money laundering and terrorist financing pose major threats to international peace and security which could seriously undermine the economic and social development of any country. As such laws and policies are being formulated recurrently to combat the crimes2.In recent times, there is an increased awareness of financial crimes amongst countries in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), due to the realisation by the countries of the devastating effect money laundering and terrorism has not only on their economy but also on the international integrity built over the
By
Oladeji Ifeoluwa Temilolu
1.0 Introduction
Money laundering as a form of cross border crime involves the use of legal tender in a financial transaction in order to conceal the origin, source or destination of such legal tender derived through illegal means. The sole aim of every money launderer is to misrepresent to any law enforcement authority or agency that the source of the funds are clean. As such it would be a difficult task for any enforcement authority to trace the source of the funds and by so doing the money launderers are able to escape prosecution or conviction.
The term money laundering has its origin grounded in the Mafia ownership of Laundromats in the United States which led to the conviction of Ai Capone for tax evasion in the 1920s. Prior to money laundering becoming an international crime, the occurrence of money laundering can only be attributed to financial transaction however in recent times, the scope of money laundering has been widened to other areas, as long as the proceeds is derived from a wrongful act such as drugs, illicit trafficking of arms and persons, trans-border theft, armed robbery, narcotics, tax evasion etc1.
There is a growing recognition that Money laundering and terrorist financing are global phenomena with well-documented evidence, that both money laundering and terrorist financing pose major threats to international peace and security which could seriously undermine the economic and social development of any country. As such laws and policies are being formulated recurrently to combat the crimes2.In recent times, there is an increased awareness of financial crimes amongst countries in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), due to the realisation by the countries of the devastating effect money laundering and terrorism has not only on their economy but also on the international integrity built over the