Money transfer: Terrorist finance companies in Kenya
Saturday 02/February/2019 - 01:26 PM
Nahla Abdel Moneim
Many African countries are characterized by the fragility of their security and
surveillance systems, paving the way for international terrorist organizations
to exploit such fragility whether to expand geographically in the continent or
serve as security passages for money transfer.
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Investigations in Kenya revealed that the terrorist attack carried out by al-Shabaab (al-Qaeda's branch in Africa, especially in Somalia) against the Dusit Hotel in Nairobi on January 15, 2018 killing dozens of deaths, was carried out with the help of agents of extremist groups, through which money is transferred to be used in the purchase of weapons and vehicles, and all equipment for terrorist attacks in the country.
Funding issue
The Nairobi court decided Wednesday to close a branch of M-Pesa, a subsidiary of Safaricom, for the involvement of its agent, Noor Vei, in the suspected terrorist financing network.
The network began to unfold following investigations by the Kenyan police counterterrorism unit about the recent Nairobi incident. Nine people were arrested following investigations, including the director of a branch of Diamond Trust Bank, Sofia Mobugu.
During the investigation, questions were asked to Sofia about her transfer of a large amount of money to a businessman in a short period of time without asking for evidence or any query on what possible banks that can receive this amount of money.
Sofia blamed Safaricom for being responsible for its agents in the country because the police discovered that the bank had transferred $9 million from South Africa to Noor (the agent of M-Pesa) to transfer $ 5.5 million in one go to another account in Somalia, shortly before the terrorist attack in Nairobi.
Another defendant, Abdelnour Osman, was also charged with receiving 100 million Kenyan shillings from the same company, M-Pesa.
M-Pesa is one of the companies that provides money transfer services to clients in the country, and follows Safaricom, a subsidiary of Vodafone.
Ms. Sofia therefore pleaded not guilty because the company was responsible and the company was a customer of the bank.
Surveillance efforts
In light of the above, the Central Bank of Kenya announced the need for all banks in the country and financial institutions to quickly report suspicious transfers in branches, and not to blame one another.
In March 2018, the Central Bank issued a guidance note to assist financial institutions in the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing and in order to implement the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recommendations. Recommendations included conducting periodic reports on financial transactions that are being carried out between different parties and focusing on money transfer companies
Surveillance efforts
In light of the above, the Central Bank of Kenya announced the need for all banks in the country and financial institutions to quickly report suspicious transfers in branches, and not to blame one another.
In March 2018, the Central Bank issued a guidance note to assist financial institutions in the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing and in order to implement the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recommendations. Recommendations included conducting periodic reports on financial transactions that are being carried out between different parties and focusing on money transfer companies
Surveillance efforts
In light of the above, the Central Bank of Kenya announced the need for all banks in the country and financial institutions to quickly report suspicious transfers in branches, and not to blame one another.
In March 2018, the Central Bank issued a guidance note to assist financial institutions in the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing and in order to implement the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recommendations. Recommendations included conducting periodic reports on financial transactions that are being carried out between different parties and focusing on money transfer companies
