Zambia Tax Platform says it is worrying to note that there are still a number of suspicious transactions being stated in the latest Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) Trends Report.
Speaking in an interview with Money FM News, Platform Chairperson Leah Mitaba said despite the suspicious transactions being perpetrated by some named personalities, citizens do not see the outcome of the cases even those highlighted in the previous report.
Ms. Mitaba stated that it will be interesting to see action being taken on cases that have been reported on.
She commended government for releasing the report, stating that Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) will soon be having meeting to interrogate what the contents of the report are.
“We are happy that government has released that report, and now as CSOs we will be having a meeting to interrogate what the contents of the report are. It’s still worrying to see that there are still a number of reports on suspicious transactions being reported and as CSOs we want to ensure that we have a say.”
“But then again it’s the aspect where it’s talking also about suspicious transactions that rare being perpetrated by some named personalities yet we don’t see the outcome of the cases that were highlighted for instance even in the previous report. It will be nice to see that thing being reported on and see the action that has been taken. We welcome the fact that government has released the report, and now we want to look at it and see how we come up with informed engagement with the government,” Ms. Mitaba said.
Ms. Mitaba further said as a network that is interested in issues concerning the poverty sector, any illicit financial flaws have a negatively impact on the fight against poverty in the country.
“We will have an interaction as CSOs that is Zambia Tax Platform, and Civil Society Poverty observatory groups. Because as a network that is interested to see what is happening in the poverty sector, we realize that any illicit financial flaws negatively impacts the poverty fight that we are in as a country,” she said.
Yesterday, the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) released the 6th Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Trends Report for the year 2019.
According to FIC Board Chairperson Lombe Chibesakunda, the Report has been prepared in accordance with provisions of the FIC Act of 2010 which empowers the Centre to educate and inform the public on money laundering and financing of terrorism and proliferation.
FIC is an integral part of an Anti-Money Laundering/Countering the Financing of Terrorism and Proliferation Value Chain.
The Centre receives information from legally designated institutions, analyses the information and then disseminates it where it deems necessary to Law Enforcement Agencies.