Subj: Ire: Co-operation urged to fight moneylaundering



Date: Friday, October 30, 1998



Source:    Irish Times





Co-operation urged to fight moneylaundering 

By Catherine Cleary



International police co-operation is urgently needed to combat

organised crime, the head of the National Bureau of Criminal

Investigation said yesterday.



Det Chief Supt Sean Camon told delegates that a number of

"small, well-established and tightly structured groups" control

organised crime in Ireland.



But these gangs had "become increasingly active in the

international area". Foreign criminals had visited Ireland to

make contacts and Irish criminals living abroad had made

international contacts.



"The nature of crime has also changed, with criminals becoming

much more violent and professional, thus resulting in more

complex investigations." One of the targets of organised crime

gangs in recent years had been stealing computer parts, Chief

Supt Camon said. The National Bureau of Criminal

Investigation had set up a computer investigation unit last year.

As a result "IEP12 million worth of stolen computer components

have been recovered", he said.



"The number of organised crime groups in this country can be

divided into two general categories. The first is a small number

of groups which are well-established, tightly-structured,

involved in drug trafficking and armed robbery. Our second

consists of criminal associates who come together from time to

time on an ad-hoc basis to commit crime." Det Insp Terry

McGinn, of the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation, said the

recent successful prosecution of Swiss national

Maria-Bernadette Jehle had "sent a message that Ireland will

not be used as a haven for money-laundering". Opening the

two-day conference Assistant Commissioner Kevin Carty said

the global drugs trade was estimated to be worth $400 billion

annually, with another $100 billion earned in other types of

crime, making an estimated $500 billion as the amount of

money to be laundered annually.



"Money-launderers, unlike criminals who use them, do not

leave dead or drugged bodies in their wake." Their activities

resulted in companies backed by "crooked cash" being able to

undercut honest companies. And the crime of

money-laundering "poses a great threat to Ireland, the

European community and broader society".



US Treasury Department Special Agent Stan Travers spoke

about money-laundering investigation and asset seizure. The

US laws on assets seizure are similar to recent Irish legislation,

placing the burden on suspected criminals to prove the assets

are not the proceeds of crime.