KUALA LUMPUR, March 30 — The number of Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs) submitted by reporting institutions increased by 43 per cent to 191,387 in 2021 from the previous year, said Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM).
In its Annual Report 2021 released today, the central bank said STRs have been increasing by around 30 per cent per annum between 2014 and 2021.
“Specifically, there was a significant increase in STRs on fraud, as criminals took advantage of the pandemic to exploit victims with scams related to medical products, investment opportunities and government assistance programmes,” it said.
The central bank said STRs on tax offences have also risen, indicating the prevalence of tax avoidance and under-reporting of income.
Over 75 per cent of the financial intelligence disclosures made by the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) to the relevant law enforcement agencies (LEAs) and foreign FIUs in 2021 were on suspected high-risk crimes.
The disclosures supported investigations that led to more than 70 arrests for corruption, organised crimes, smuggling, child sexual exploitation, and money laundering activities.
“These disclosures also contributed to freezing and seizures of criminal proceeds worth more than RM136 million, revenue recovery of more than RM255 million and supporting preventive actions on terrorism and terrorism financing activities,” the bank said.
Meanwhile, in the two decades since its establishment, the National Coordination Committee to Counter Money Laundering (NCC) has approved the NCC Roadmap 2021-2023, which is built on the National Strategic Plan 2015-2020.
The NCC Roadmap covers five strategic areas, namely legal, regulatory and coordination, risk, preventive measures, capacity building and awareness, and enforcement.
“Key responsibility areas and specific action plans of the relevant agencies and sub-committees are then aligned with the new roadmap,” BNM said.
The NCC Roadmap incorporates recommendations from the recent National Risk Assessment on Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing 2020 and this serves as the nationwide assessment on Malaysia’s exposure to high-risk crimes and sectoral vulnerabilities.
— Bernama
