Treasury Principal Secretary Dr Chris Kiptoo on Tuesday revealed that the government of Kenya will put in place measures to combat money laundering activities in the country after Kenya was mentioned among the nations lagging behind in stopping the flow of illicit funds.
Speaking during a conference held in Diani, Kwale County that brought together delegates from across the region, Kiptoo said that the Treasury had already identified the challenges facing the measures put in place to combat the vice.
Kiptoo stated that money laundering poses a great threat to the African continent following intelligence reports of terror groups benefiting from money laundering proceeds, posing complex security risks to the continent.
“It is further interesting to note that out of the countries in the grey list of the Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group (ESAAMLG) ,a bunch of them are from this region in compression to other regions, it begs the question and reflection as to what we are not doing right,” the PS added.
The Finance Action Task Force (FATF), a global anti-money laundering watchdog, put Kenya on the grey list in August 2023, a move which was viewed to likely hurt Kenya’s standing as the financial powerhouse of the region.
The negative listing meant that Kenya might be subjected to stricter due diligence when it is dealing with the rest of the world, especially in acquiring debts, with far-reaching consequences to the economy.
The practice that is commonly practiced in the country using fake gold has in the past presented a complex security situation to Kenya's investigative agencies and damaging diplomatic ties with other countries whose citizens have become victims.
Director of Criminal Investigations boss Mohamed Amin in June this year revealed that some of the fake gold dealers have been relocating from Kenya to neighboring countries where they are now operating.
He also added that some of the suspects in the cases of money laundering are from mineral-producing countries and that they use Kenya as a transit point.
“We have managed to downgrade successfully the activities of these gold scammers in Kenya so much that they have now relocated to some of our neighboring countries,” Amin noted.
“Out of 71 reported cases we have identified and prosecuted 64 people. Some Kenyans and others are foreigners. In our investigations we received help from the FBI in recovery of proceeds of crime and area of social media,” Amin said.
During his visit to Kenya on June 14, 2024 Federal Bureau of Investigations Director, Christopher Wray revealed that the FBI was equally concerned over the wash wash headache facing Kenya and that the agency will continue to help investigative agencies combat the crime.
“It is also a fact that the wash wash business has become one of the most prevalent transnational crimes, more often than not being orchestrated by non-Kenyans in the initial stages. Kenya, and most specifically its capital, Nairobi,” Wray told the media at the time.
