Accountants and cops talk financial crime

DCI Richard Barrow

(CNS): The City of London Police will be producing a report for the Cayman Islands governor with recommendations on how to enhance the work and crime-fighting capabilities of the RCIPS Financial Crimes Investigation Unit (FCIU). This follows a recent two-day forum for stakeholders, hosted by KPMG’s Cayman office and the FCIU, where the UK specialist force came to share its experience. Some of the recommendations have come directly from discussions with delegates at the event on the issues they currently face with financial crime investigations in the Cayman Islands.

The forum, held on 21 and 22 May, put the current financial crime landscape in Cayman under the microscope. With financial crime at the forefront of criminal trends, the conference examined models for effective collaboration and an action plan for tackling financial crime locally.

Representatives from the City of London Police walked delegates through Operation Shaniko, a recent case study where members of an organised crime gang in London were jailed for a total of 23 years for a £1.5 million money-laundering fraud, according to a release about the conference.

This example demonstrated how the private and public sectors worked together to tackle the crime, something which the Cayman Islands is seeking to develop.

DCI Richard Barrow, who heads up the FCIU, said he was encouraged by the input and engagement of the participants towards promoting public and private partnerships, as he noted the need to  disrupt “malign players from using Cayman entities” to launder the proceeds of their crime.

Brid Verling, senior manager in Advisory Services at KPMG, said the experience of the City of London Police was extremely insightful and the response from delegates positive.

“We are all looking forward to building on and enhancing our current approach to managing financial crime in Cayman and overseas in the future,” she added.