Financial Intelligence Unit notes increase in suspicious fin...

Financial Intelligence Unit notes increase in suspicious financial activities related to fraud in 2024

The Financial Intelligence Unit is reporting an increase in suspicious transactions last year, when compared to 2023. The majority of those transactions are related to fraud. According to Section 18(4) of the Anti-Money Laundering Act, a reporting entity such as a bank or a financial institution must send suspicious transactions to the FIU whenever it suspects or has reasonable grounds to suspect that funds or a transaction or attempted transaction are connected to the proceeds of criminal activity, money laundering or terrorist financing offences. In its 2024 Annual Report, the FIU said that majority of the suspicious transactions reported were related to fraud and structuring transactions. “In 2024, the FIU Guyana received 208 Suspicious transactions (STRs), compared to 180 received in 2023, representing a 15.6% increase. The two most commonly cited suspicious activities in STRs received were general fraud, and structuring transactions indicating a continued trend of fraudulent and structuring activities as key drivers of suspicious financial behaviour. Together, these two types of suspicious activities accounted for 39.4% of all STRs submitted to the FIU in 2024,” the FIU said. Some sixty cases of fraud were reported last year up from twenty-eight the previous year and twenty-two structuring transactions, which were up from 20 the previous year. The FIU said while there was a 15.6% rise in the number of suspicious transactions reported in 2024, the overall value of those transactions fell by over 90%. “This was driven by the fact that most of the fraud-related STRs originated from the subsector of Payment Service Providers (PSPs), where the individual transaction values are relatively lower, when compared to transactions and financial activity from other regulated sectors,” the FIU stated. Additionally, the FIU said it disseminated twenty (20) financial intelligence reports to eleven (11) counterpart FIUs and one (1) international organization, in accordance with established international cooperation frameworks. Those reports are linked to suspected crimes including money laundering, related predicate offences and terrorist financing. The estimated total value of the transactions covered in those reports was approximately G$281.6 Billion.

The Financial Intelligence Unit is reporting an increase in suspicious transactions last year, when compared to 2023. The majority of those transactions are related to fraud.

According to Section 18(4) of the Anti-Money Laundering Act, a reporting entity such as a bank or a financial institution must send suspicious transactions to the FIU whenever it suspects or has reasonable grounds to suspect that funds or a transaction or attempted transaction are connected to the proceeds of criminal activity, money laundering or terrorist financing offences.

In its 2024 Annual Report, the FIU said that majority of the suspicious transactions reported were related to fraud and structuring transactions.

“In 2024, the FIU Guyana received 208 Suspicious transactions (STRs), compared to 180 received in 2023, representing a 15.6% increase. The two most commonly cited suspicious activities in STRs received were general fraud, and structuring transactions indicating a continued trend of fraudulent and structuring activities as key drivers of suspicious financial behaviour. Together, these two types of suspicious activities accounted for 39.4% of all STRs submitted to the FIU in 2024,” the FIU said.

Some sixty cases of fraud were reported last year up from twenty-eight the previous year and twenty-two structuring transactions, which were up from 20 the previous year.

The FIU said while there was a 15.6% rise in the number of suspicious transactions reported in 2024, the overall value of those transactions fell by over 90%.

“This was driven by the fact that most of the fraud-related STRs originated from the subsector of Payment Service Providers (PSPs), where the individual transaction values are relatively lower, when compared to transactions and financial activity from other regulated sectors,” the FIU stated.

Additionally, the FIU said it disseminated twenty (20) financial intelligence reports to eleven (11) counterpart FIUs and one (1) international organization, in accordance with established international cooperation frameworks.

Those reports are linked to suspected crimes including money laundering, related predicate offences and terrorist financing. The estimated total value of the transactions covered in those reports was approximately G$281.6 Billion.