US TREASURY IDENTIFIES AND SANCTIONS FARC MONEY LAUNDERING NETWORK IN ZURICH

If you thought the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, the FARC, were coming to any sort of final settlement with the Government of Colombia after three years of negotiations, think again. The US Treasury (OFAC) has now identified a FARC money laundering ring operating out of Zurich. Apparently, it provides money remittance and related financial services to FARC agent worldwide, giving them access to the global financial structure.

There are some bank compliance officers who have come to profile all Colombian nationals operating abroad, as potential drug traffickers and money launderers, but you need not go to that extreme. Just insure that your toolkit includes both the best commercial off-the-shelf databases of high-risk individuals, and that your multilingual staff carefully examine any commercial entity incorporated in, or doing business from, Colombia or Panama, when dealing with Colombian nationals. That way, you will have no nasty surprises down the road, with investigations of Colombian money laundering activity at your bank.