December 9, 2010 12:44AM

http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/News/5651715-147/fg_says_money_laundering_hinders_development.csp

Mohammed Bello Adoke, the Attorney-General and minister of Justice said that development and security are only possible in an environment free of corruption, money laundering, terrorism financing, and other economic crimes.

The Federal Government yesterday said that money laundering, terrorism financing, and other forms of economic and financial crimes constitute major obstacles to development in the West African sub-region.

The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Bello Adoke, said this in Abuja at the 14th plenary meeting of the Action Group Against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA). He said that such crimes have had an adverse impact on regional security and development.

“I wish to state that in Nigeria, the implementation of a robust AML/CFT regime has remained the top priority of the Federal Government,” said Mr. Adoke.

“Nigeria’s resolve in this regard stems from the fact that development and security are only possible in an environment free of corruption, money laundering, terrorism financing, and other economic crimes,” he added.

Mr. Adoke said that since the country’s adoption of the Mutual Evaluation Report in 2008, the government had taken practical steps to address all the observed weaknesses in the report.

Cash transactions

He applauded the group for its achievements, including the signing of various memoranda of understanding, thus guaranteeing more cooperation, information exchange, mentorship, and joint operations in countries in the region.

In his remarks, the director general of GIABA, Abdullahi Shehu, said the dependence on cash transactions in the economies of the region presents a unique challenge in the identification, tracing, and recovery of laundered proceeds of crime.

He suggested ways forward, which included raising awareness among stakeholders, examining payments on cash transactions in financial institutions, and examining the existing framework, including legal arrangements for the control of cash movement in the region.