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Crime
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2001-05-24 08:24:00-04
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Money laundering still an Asian Problem
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Japanese official addresses money-laundering group on problem that still persists in region
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The Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering is meeting in Kuala Lumpur this week and it seems the Asia-Pacific region is lagging behind Latin America and the Caribbean in dealing with the problem. Deficits in national restrictions on money laundering mean profits from narcotics and people trafficking, fraud, corruption and other crimes are slipping into international ffinancial systems and becoming legitimate. Hideaki Suzuki, Director of the Japan Financial Intelligence Office, said that countries within the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development had been dealing with the money laundering issue for a decade, introducing money laundering laws, stricter codes on bank customer identification and fund monitoring units. However, Suzuki says that the developed countries in the region cannot expect to see further regional progress until the less developed countries in the region fall in line. The APG countries need to define and criminalize money laundering, establish codes for customer identification and set up fund tracking units. Asked which countries in the region pose particular problems, Suzuki mentioned the Philippines, which has seen the issue of customer identification surface in the recent corruption charges brought against former president Joseph Estrada. Estrada allegedly made bank deposits using another name. He is facing an array of charges including economic plunder, which carries the death penalty or life in prison.
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