Judges reveal how funds are smuggled abroad

Judicial investigation reveals smuggling merchants and money changers and transfer companies millions of dollars abroad

Baghdad -arac Press October -5: judges specialize money laundering issues revealed that millions of dollars were smuggled out of the country by traders and bankers and fictitious companies and money transfer.

Iyad Muhsin ligature judge defines money laundering achieve this crime as "legitimize the funds of illicit origin, to make them look legitimate image using several methods."

He bandaged in an interview with the "newspaper judiciary", that "of these methods to carry out import fake and convertibility of the dollar abroad and the use of other people."

He added that "it is through open small accounts in their names and the distribution of these amounts on their accounts for the fragmentation of the amounts and make them look small and then assembled in another account the various transactions and conduct of which or transferred out of the country, without having to these conversions commercial purposes is illegal."

According ligature that " the central bank sold dollars to achieve two purposes, the first exchange companies weekly share that these companies are selling to the purports to travel for treatment or tourism for less than the market price , " adding that "some companies sell the dollar on the black market and provide copies of travel tickets and passports fakes. "

He added that " The second purpose is for the purpose of importing the private sector through currency auctions , " noting that " the image most frequently for money laundering in Iraq , speaking through an auction sell the currency at the central bank and that the fact that the perpetrators of embezzlement and bribery crimes and charging commissions to deposit their money in accounts at private banks ".

He pointed out that " a deal gets with people representing the facades of them and recording General trade names companies and then applying to enter the auction sale of the dollar under the pretext of covering the import of the private sector 's needs and transfer millions of dollars into the financial accounts abroad without the introduction of the goods against which will then be their dealings suspicious without commercial purposes or legal. "

He stated that " the mechanisms established by the Central Bank to sell the dollar through currency auctions are open merchant account at Ahli Bank in order to get what he needed from the central bank after submitting a request to buy the currency strengthened lists the purchase of goods and clearance from the tax and import license from the Iraqi opposition."

Ligature and explained that " the process of buying the dollar to be between the National Bank and the Central Bank in order to cover as requested by the customer."

And that " the legal obligations imposed by the central bank to private banks under the law according to the principle (Know Your Customer) , where it is the responsibility of those banks to verify who deals with it and need to know whether the customer any merchant can take place such import process and has the money or is it a front for cover sources funds owned by criminals. "

Ligature and he adds that " the facts indicate that the merchant provides documents and forged documents and lists and fake permits by private banks to buy the currency check request and converts it to the outside."

He continued that " the incident is exposed after the specified period of three months , a period that are imposed on the client after submitting permits stating that the goods have entered into Iraq, and there is the central bank approached the customs department and then be revealed fraud and conducting court investigations."

Due to the principle of ligature (know your customer), saying "the bank to verify the ability of the client to repay his trust, and if he found the inability to inform the Central Bank during the 15 - day discourse that there is a suspect." While denied " the registration of any case of this kind against any customer", he saw that "private banks have become an easy conduit for money laundering operations."

He added , "Under the facts before the central bank for as long as the full cast blame on private banks and this is not true; because the latter is not a government agency and that the sanctions Ttoulha administrative only."

He stressed that "oversight and audits buy the currency to be later and after the loss of funds withdrawn , " calling that " the checks carried out by the exchange process."

He called ligature to "put in place mechanisms to check the validity of the bills and make sure the customer 's account and the fact that the required amounts Is it to cover imports by the private sector or for other reasons."

He cited that the "crime borne by the merchant and all the people who contributed to feeding their account and the bank that its obligations has not been implemented as money laundering law."

According to the judge of money laundering, " the punishment of those responsible for causing the bank in this type of crime is a misdemeanor , a penalty merchant themselves , but they may reach their right to life imprisonment if it is proved that the amounts allocated to support terrorist operations."

It was to be " the central bank often imposes fines on banks that do not abide by the instructions of their clients auction sell the currency , " noting that " the violator to pay the price difference between the value of the dollar in the markets and bought from the central bank."

And he finished by saying that "the court over the door to receive reports of these crimes , including the reporting of money laundering office, in addition to control of the Directorate of the banking and credit at the central bank through conducted by committees , audit and inspection, as the court receives Sometimes reports from informants ordinary" .

And completed by saying that the "court of inquiry has completed dozens of money laundering cases and referred the perpetrators of money laundering crimes to misdemeanors and criminal courts."

For his part , says the cover of integrity and money laundering Radi Fartusi judge in a statement to "eliminate", that "our courts to deal very seriously with this kind of issues and resolving many of them."

Fartusi and continued that " the delay in resolving the case of some who , for reasons not related to the elimination of including non - completion of the administrative investigation of the relevant authorities."

He criticized the "lack of identification concerned about the amounts purchased by private banks when conducting the administrative investigation, as well as the amount of damage achieved as a result of money laundering."

Fartusi also complained about lack of "Check those actors permits and invoices submitted by the banks and customers before their participation in the foreign currency auction."

One of the strange cases before the judiciary, Fartusi said that " a young man of only 25 years , which recharged his account of $ 10 million and although it works taxi driver after checking with him turned out to be the interface used by one of the parties for the purpose of laundering the funds and turn them out of Iraq , " .anthy (1) 

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