Close to P140 million ‘dirty money’ passed through banks in six months
The Financial Intelligence Agency (FIA) recorded 578 ‘suspicious transactions’ worth P140 million conducted through local banks in the first half of 2024.
The figure raises real concerns of money laundering, but was actually more than 50 percent down on the amount flagged during the same period in 2023.
Three transactions routed through car dealers involving approximately P2.1 million also raised the red light, whilst insurance companies handled P563,000 of suspicious funds.
A total of P130,000 passed through Development Financial Institutions and P61,000 went through bureau de changes.
“Where a number of reports by banks have significantly increased when compared to the same period last year, the value of STRs [Suspicious Transaction Reports] have gone down by almost half. The car dealers are also beginning to report some STs as well,” note the FIA.
Another challenge the agency identified is people committing unlawful transactions as a means to evade tax.
A total of 66 cases involving P78 million were reported during the six-month period and were followed by externalization of funds at P30.1 million. Fraud and Illegal deposit taking amounted to P14 million and P9.2 million respectively.
“Although Illegal Deposit Taking takes up the majority of STRs counts, approximately 66.5 percent of the total, it does not have the highest STR value, with the suspected crime amounting to around P9.2million. Other suspected crimes such as wildlife and money laundering had more significant values compared to other crimes which are more prevalent, such as drug trafficking and Ponzi Schemes,” reads the FIA’s findings.
The Agency found that business owners in their mid 30s are prone to depositing money into their personal accounts for business transactions to avoid scrutiny.
It also observed that some Chinese nationals operating businesses in Francistown have been engaging in externalizing funds where large cash deposits are made locally, followed by immediate wire transfers to suppliers in China.
Youth have been found to be experts in Illegal Deposit Taking where they unlawfully collect funds from the public with banking or financial services claiming to be traders in foreign currencies on behalf of investors, promising fixed high returns.
A total of 545 Batswana were implicated in a variety of suspicious transactions involving P54 million followed by 37 Chinese nationals transacting P45.3 million, 12 Zimbabweans transacting P31.1 million, and one South African dealing in P8.1 million. Men are said to be perpetrators of more than half of the criminal activities.
Meanwhile, the Bank of Botswana recently said it is not within its mandate to stop people from investing in digital financial transactions, and that they should exercise due care before investing.
