MOLICO project on last one hundred meters

The mechanisms for preventing and combating money laundering implemented in Moldova meet the international standards, European expert Oleksiy Feshchenko said at a seminar organized by the National Commission on the Financial Market (CNPF) in cooperation with the joint project of the European Commission and the Council of Europe against corruption, money laundering and terrorist financing in Moldova (MOLICO), Info-Prim Neo reports. Feshchenko said that during three years while the project was being implemented, Moldova ratified the CE Warsaw Declaration on the Prevention and Combating of Money Laundering, updated the law on money laundering and approved a series of regulations for the 13 entities that are obliged by law to assess the risks and report suspicious transactions. This is one of the last training seminars organized as part of the MOLICO project. It centered on the prevention and combating of money laundering in the insurance sector. The European expert approved of the fact that the all the insurance companies in Moldova implement their own programs against money laundering. Aurelia Doina, vice president of the CNPF, said that the Commission in concert with the Center for Combating Corruption and Economic Crime (CCCEC) recently assessed the money laundering risk for the professional participants in the insurance market. The results showed that the insurance companies have 79 specialists in the filed, but they need continuous training. Adrian Corcimari, of the CCCEC, said that the 13 entities in 2007 reported 148 suspicious transactions, while in 2008 – 245. Money laundering attempts were determined in ten cases of the 245. The situation is monitored in continuation as it is very hard to discover criminal elements. Corcimari also said that seven of the insurance companies have been administratively punished. The amendments to the Civil Code that are now being drafted provide for criminal punishment for such violations. It is considered the possibility of extending the number of entities obliged to present reports on the transactions exposed to the risk of money laundering. In the insurance sector for example, not only the insurers should have such an obligation, but the insurance brokers as well. The MOLICO project in Moldova was launched on August 1, 2006 and completed recently. It was implemented at a cost of 3.5 million euros.