![](\"http:\/\/ch.jfdi.cc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/calls-for-resignation-over-money-laundering-oversight.jpg\")
MPs on Wednesday raised the alarm over whether Cyprus is actually carrying out its duties on money laundering compliance, after it emerged the police, money laundering unit (Mokas) and customs office have a glaring gap in their coordination and communication.<\/p>\n
During the House legal affairs committee, MPs heard over \u20ac160 million in cash has flowed into Cyprus in the past four years, as they lambasted the three authorities over their apparent inaction on investigations surrounding tax evasion and money laundering.\u201cThe heads of these departments should have already resigned,\u201d Akel MP Irene Charalambides charged.The discussion was sparked over the recent arrest of a 31-year-old Ukrainian woman who now faces 60 counts of money-laundering related charges. She is believed to have brought \u20ac8 million in cash to the country, through a number of trips in the past year.The case has raised questions over the country\u2019s oversight, with Charalambides saying the incident had laid bare the country\u2019s negligence<\/strong>.Diko MP Zacharias Koulias requested the session was held behind closed doors after a representative for the attorney-general\u2019s office called on MPs to remain vague so as not to affect the woman\u2019s right to innocence as she awaits court proceedings.MPs from Disy, Diko and Depa supported the motion, with Akel and independent MP Alexandra Attalides being the minority votes in opposition.\u2018Strange meddling\u2019<\/strong>Speaking to the press after the session, Charalambides raised questions over a \u201cstrange\u201d meeting which took place in 2023. She claimed police ordered the customs office not to relay any information to Mokas directly, but instead have everything go through police instead.The MP said this instruction was given verbally and was in no way supported by the law.No representative of the police, Mokas or customs office attended the session or commented on the claims.According to Charalambides, the customs office hands a USB to Mokas every three months, detailing any declared sums of cash. This appears to be their only form of communication with an obvious time lag, she specified.The MP questioned why \u201cwe cannot do the obvious\u201d and have authorities be able to see the information in real time, linked to passport numbers.Attalides called for an investigation on institutionalised corruption, charging there is \u201ca huge problem where oversight bodies are concerned\u201d.Although government officials and politicians tell journalists and international organisations that Cyprus has taken steps to combat money laundering, they \u201cforget\u201d to refer to how effective the legal framework is \u2013 or isn\u2019t.She charged there is no proper oversight on how well the law might be implemented or on \u201ckey individuals\u201d.With financial organisations now having a tough framework on accepting cash, information on \u20ac160m can only lead to one conclusion she declared: \u201cthere is a shadow economy.\u201d\u2018Criminal\u2019 inaction\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>Committee chair and Disy MP Demetris Demetriou said more than \u20ac100m in cash has repeatedly entered the country.\u201cUnfortunately, there is a complete lack of coordination between the relevant state services, and a complete absence of any form of reflexes from the customs offices.\u201dWhere Mokas and police are concerned, there is an obvious \u201cinaction\u201d on their part.Demetriou specified it appears police do not have a clear picture on the matter and the customs office just gave the requested reports to Mokas.While Mokas may have investigated individual cases of possible money laundering \u201cit didn\u2019t actually sit down and add up the amounts to say person X brought Y amount to Cyprus.\u201dHe described this as \u201ccriminal\u201d.Asked whether there is a question of legislation to create a mechanism to coordinate the three agencies, he said he did not think the issue was a matter of lack of legislation.\u201cIt is the lack of cooperation and initiative by those in charge,\u201d he said.Follow the MPs in Cyprus have expressed concerns over the country’s compliance with money laundering regulations due to a lack of coordination and communication between the police, the money laundering unit (Mokas), and the customs office. Over \u20ac160 million in cash has entered Cyprus in the past four years, raising questions about tax evasion and money laundering investigations. A recent case involved the arrest of a 31-year-old Ukrainian woman facing 60 counts of money laundering, having brought \u20ac8 million in cash to the country. There is criticism over a “strange” meeting in 2023 where police allegedly instructed the customs office to route information through them before reaching Mokas, a directive not supported by law. The customs office provides Mokas with a USB detailing declared cash sums every three months, indicating a delay in communication. Concerns were raised about the lack of real-time information sharing, the effectiveness of the legal framework against money laundering, and the existence of a shadow economy. The committee chair criticized the absence of coordination among state services and described the situation as “criminal” due to the inaction of Mokas and the police.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4046,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[671,232,1512,1240,1754,295,932,3,1212,672,26,250,415,187,1419,1342,1346,1060,1753,1012,184,1065,1205,1755,1180],"class_list":["post-4045","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cyprus","tag-akel","tag-arrest","tag-cash","tag-clear","tag-coordination-and-communication","tag-corruption","tag-court","tag-cyprus","tag-diko","tag-disy","tag-economy","tag-google","tag-government","tag-international","tag-investigation","tag-investigations","tag-meeting","tag-money-laundering","tag-money-laundering-compliance","tag-numbers","tag-police","tag-tax","tag-tax-evasion","tag-tax-evasion-investigations","tag-ukrainian"],"acf":{"keyphrase":"","keywords":"","sourceimg":"","country-category":""},"yoast_head":"\n
\nCyprus Mail on Google News<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"