GIFIM tracks over 600 million USD of suspicious transactions
Mozambique’s Financial Intelligence Office (GIFIM) received, in 2021, notification of 2,338 Suspicious Transactions, amounting to 42.6 billion meticais (about 666 million US dollars at the current exchange rate.)
The banks notified GIFIM of these transactions because it was suspected that they might embody money laundering or the financing of terrorism.
The spokesperson of the Council of Ministers (Cabinet), Deputy Justice Minister Filimão Suaze, made this announcement at a Maputo press conference immediately the weekly meeting of the Council.
“The government analysed the annual report of activities of GIFIM, referring to 2021, to be submitted to the Assembly of the Republic (the Mozambican parliament)”, Suaze said.
In addition to receiving and analyzing Suspicious Transaction Communications (COS's) and disseminating the financial information reports to the authorities, GIFIM's mission is to ensure high success rates in clarifying reported cases of suspicious operations and engage the entire Mozambican economic and financial system in reporting suspicious financial operations.
“In 2020, GIFIM registered a total of 3,350 COS's representing 35,844,451,913 meticais of suspect financial transactions. The number of communications this year is a drop of 43.3 percent, but the figure for the amount of money involved corresponds to an increase of 20 percent”, Suaze said.
Suaze did not reveal how many of the “suspicious transactions” really were cases of money laundering or of the financing of terrorism.
