Money Laundering Investigation Department to be restructured
KATHMANDU, JAN 29 -
The government has planned to restructure the Department of Money Laundering Investigation (DoMLI) to ensure faster and effective investigation into cases of money laundering and terrorism financing.
A proposal to reorganize the department has been sent to the cabinet for its endorsement. The plan has envisioned creating eight separate units to investigate money laundering and doubling its staff strength.
The government is expected to present this move as one of its achievements at the plenary of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) scheduled to be held in February. Nepal is facing a risk of being blacklisted by the global anti- money laundering body for failing to introduce the Organized Crime Act, and revamping the DoMLI could be a way of showing that the government has been doing something.
“Although the major concern of the FATF is enactment of the Organized Crime Act, restructuring the DoMLI will be an added advantage if the proposal is endorsed by the cabinet,” said Surya Prasad Acharya, director general of the department. He added that officials of the Regional Review Group under the FATF had praised the government’s efforts to reorganize the department at a recent meeting in Hong Kong. “They encouraged us by describing the initiative as a nice enforcement mechanism,” said Subedi. As per proposed restructuring of the DoMLI, it will have one director general, two deputy director generals, eight different units with a majority related to investigation and one deputation of the police. Under the existing structure, there is a director general, four directors, one under attorney general and other employees. There are five different units currently, and all contribute to investigation.
According to Acharya, the proposed scheme has envisioned that one deputy director general will handle five units and the other will look after the rest. One deputy director general will handle four investigation and one planning departments. The other will handle one investigation, one legal and another administrative department. The deputation of the police will also come within the bracket of this group, according to Subedi. He said that departments related to administration, legal and planning would also contribute to investigation activities.
As per the proposed plan, the staff strength will be increased to more than 65 from the current 33 employees. “Human resources having experience and expertise in different sectors including administration, law, revenue, finance and information technology will be brought,” said Subedi. “An experts’ group will be appointed on contract basis to help effective investigation of cases.” The restructuring of the department was planned as per the five-year Anti-Money Laundering Action Plan introduced by the government. It mentions enhancing the capacity of the agency involved in money laundering investigation.
Joint secretary at the Finance Ministry Baikuntha Aryal said that the restructuring of the department was essential as it had been lagging behind in investigating money laundering cases professionally. “As a result, there have been delays in concluding cases,” he added.
Source: The Kathmandu Post
