Expert in the field of money laundering and extradition laws, attorney David West said yesterday he agreed with the recommendation of the Ryan report for more resources to attack white-collar crime.
West, a former head of the Central Authority at the Office of the Attorney General, said he also endorsed the Prime Minister's call some time ago for an anti corruption commission.
In his report which was tabled in the Parliament last Friday, Prof Selwyn Ryan and his committee recommended that more resources be deployed for fighting corruption, money laundering, and embezzlement, and checks and balances instituted to keep high-ranking officials and politicians in line.
West said his experience in the AG's office made him realise that white-collar crime was one of the root causes of the crime problem in Trinidad and Tobago.
"Legislation is needed to seize the assets of white-collar criminals, for example, civil forfeiture legislation is needed to restrain the assets of persons suspected of white-collar crime before they have been charged.
This legislation already exists in countries like Jamaica, St Vincent the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries," he said.
The Sunday Express reported on the scourge of white-collar crime in a front page article on March 3 entitled "Dirty Money".
The article pointed out that a whopping $0.6 billion in "dirty money" transactions reportedly passed through the country's financial institutions over the last year, according to the 2012 Report of the Financial Intelligence Unit of Trinidad and Tobago (FIUTT).
By Irene Medina Associate Editor
Source: www.trinidadexpress.com