Ongoing criminal procedures against 250 money laundering suspects

Director of the Administration for the Prevention of Money Laundering Aleksandar Vujicic today stated that there were ongoing criminal procedures in Serbia against 250 people suspected of money laundering, adding that 19 decisions had been passed to date, nine of which were legally binding, it was announced on the Serbian government's website.

Speaking at a Conference on National Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing Risk Assessment, Vujicic recalled that until four years ago, only one verdict had been passed in Serbia in a case of money laundering related to terrorism.

He said that since November 2010, Serbia has been implementing a Project against Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing “MOLI Serbia”, worth €2.2 billion, adding that the project is for the most part EU-funded.

One of the activities of the project, scheduled to last until October 2012, is a national assessment of the risk from money laundering.

Cooperation of all relevant state organs in Serbia, as well as international cooperation with financial and intelligence services, is required in order to prevent money laundering and financing terrorism, he said.

State Secretary of Finance Miodrag Djidic noted that the Serbian legal framework for preventing money laundering has been harmonized with international standards.

MOLI Serbia project, implemented by the Council of Europe’s project team, aims to strengthen the capacity of the Administration for the Prevention of money laundering and other state organs combating money laundering and terrorist financing.

The Conference was attended by experts from the World Bank, the Council of Europe and the OSCE.

Besides representatives from international organisations, also present at the conference were representatives from state organs within the system for preventing money laundering and financing terrorism: the state prosecution, courts of appeal, the police, the Security and Intelligence Agency, the National Bank of Serbia, the Securities Commission and others.

The Administration for the Prevention of Money Laundering coordinated all activities and is the project holder at the national level of risk assessment.