Focus on "following the money" and not the scraps of crime.
This was the strong appeal made by Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi to Crime Stoppers yesterday as he urged the organisation to place greater emphasis on money laundering as such crimes continue to directly result in murders, gun and narcotic trafficking.
"We are looking for 800-tips on unexplained wealth. We can take guns off the streets one by one but if we really want to have a huge impact across the spectrum the advocacy must be focused squarely on how financial crimes can be managed through information portholes," Al-Rawi said, as he delivered the feature address at the 37th annual Crime Stoppers International Conference, themed Anonymous Reporting in the Digital Age, held at the Hilton Trinidad and Conference Centre, Port-of-Spain, yesterday.
Al-Rawi said very often foreign investors had difficulty in deciding in which countries to place their investments.
"Our focus on crime and criminality has to be essential with following the money. We believe that far too often we pick up the scraps of criminality and we don't in fact get to the true engines. We encourage Crime Stoppers to broaden its matrix on the reporting of financial crime, of suspicious activities which tie into our Financial Intelligence Unit because financial information, tipoffs leading to investigation is where we want to go as a country," Al-Rawi said.
He said the financing of terrorism and money laundering were the root causes of criminality.
"Doesn't money attract itself to transportation of firearms, illicit drugs? All of it centres around following the money," Al-Rawi said.
Saying that the forfeiture regime in many countries was problematic, he said this was because it was focused upon "the back of criminal conviction."
The proceeds of crime, the AG added, therefore had a longer gestation period to be returned back to society.
He said while Crime Stoppers generally did good work, it was still taking the "one-by-one approach."
"But as a country I would encourage the worldwide...behind the money pursuit. My challenge to you is to assist in the groundswell which is the synergy between Government and the private sector," Al Rawi said.
"Every drug dealer that has a mansion that cannot be explained in terms of doing nothing all day long lies open for scrutiny.
"It is reporting on these activities that will take our law enforcement agencies to the right approach," Al-Rawi said.
No pictures on most wanted
The AG also waded in on T&T Crime Stoppers saying on its Web page titled, "The most wanted gallery," there is not one single picture of wanted people in this country.
"Why? After all you really want to send a message of pouring the heat upon those who really deserve heat by letting the population know, 'we're looking for you.’”
The AG said Government was still grappling with the confidence issue as it related to national security.11
"Everyone who knows who did it, where it happened, who was involved, who should be serving jail time but somehow information leading to evidence, leading to prosecution, leading to conviction is a large gap," Al-Rawi said, adding that the matter was not one which must be addressed by Government alone as civil society must play a part.
Regarding the Judiciary, he said there were delays in trials dating back to 20 years which also resulted in lack of confidence.
In response, Dennis Gordon, chairman of T&T Crime Stoppers, said the organisation welcomed Al-Rawi's recommendations. Some 22 countries attended yesterday's conference.