AML Task Force Samlit Reports Success in Keeping Fraudsters at Bay

SA Anti-Money Laundering Integrated Task Force (Samlit) claims that it is competent in combating crime by making it challenging for criminals to exploit the country’s economic system to facilitate their unlawful activities.

Director of the FIC and Chair of the Samlit Steering Committee Advocate Xolisile Khanyile states that “removing the prospect of profitability from crime is pivotal to stemming crime”.

However, a comprehensive analysis of the information reveals that it just scratches the surface. For instance, the Samlit report claims that its partnership with the Fusion Center, which is an epicenter for collaboration between members of intelligence and law enforcement agencies, has resulted in interventions that have only preserved and given a mandate regarding R86 million in illegal holdings over the past two years.

According to Samlit, some of its most significant accomplishments over the past 15 months include aiding in the inquiry, arrests, criminal prosecution, and verdicts of individuals involved in major money laundering and related offenses like fraudulent acts, illegal money flows, procurement fraud, kidnapping, and massive corruption. Additionally, it claims to have contributed significantly to the development of the Fusion Center.

According to Khanyile, Samlit performs its job by doing research on certain crime types, which identifies trends and develops typologies. The lessons learned from this joint work are important for everyone concerned, she adds.

“This allows members to quickly identify and share detail which can be analyzed and passed on to law enforcement and prosecutorial authorities,” voices Khanyile in the report.

Acting Executive Manager for Monitoring and Analysis at the FIC Pieter Alberts argues that given the complexity of scams and criminal behavior, both the private and the public sectors needed to act quickly to prevent, recognize, and address financial crime.

“Samlit’s extraordinary successes over a relatively short period is testimony to what can be achieved through collaborative efforts and sets the standard for similar public-private partnerships, domestically and across the continent,” states Alberts.

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