Law enforcement professionals upskilled on battling financial crimes

Twenty-five professionals drawn law-enforcement and related agencies have completed a pioneering course aimed at combating financial crimes.

The Fundamentals of Countering Financial Crime is a six-week professional certificate programme developed by the Financial Investigation Division (FID) and The University of the West Indies.

Pointing to the relevance and depth of the course, one participant, Shelly Brown, noted that it is critical for law enforcers to continuously upgrade their skills to stay ahead of criminals who are increasingly utilising more sophisticated methods and technologies.

“The information is not totally new, but there are some new developments and new methodologies that we can use to take the proceeds out of crime,” said Brown, who has worked at the FID and the Major Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Agency.

“It will also keep us ahead of the brilliant criminals, especially the cyber-criminals because I don’t think that they are what we would call dunce; they are bring people,” she added during the graduation ceremony last Thursday.

The course, which was funded by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the British High Commission in Jamaica, forms part of a wider national and regional push to strengthen the investigation and disruption of financial crimes, according to the FID.

The FID noted, too, that it will bolster Jamaica’s anti-financial crimes framework and help maintain the country’s reputation internationally.

In June 2024, the Financial Action Task Force removed Jamaica from its ‘Grey List’ of countries that are assessed to have strategic deficiencies in their anti-money laundering/countering the financing of terrorism regimes.

Jason Wilks, senior sector specialist at the IDB, told the graduates that their work will contribute to a wider Caribbean response to illicit financial crimes.

He said the 25 participants are the first of a regional effort to stem the tide of financial crimes not only for Jamaica, but the entire region.

“We work on development finance, we work on development problems, but we know that those are solved by the people who work at the ground level on the front lines,” said Wilks.

editorial@gleanerjm.com