Money Laundering and Terrorism (Prevention) Act, 2008

BELIZE&

'ONE* LAUNDERING AND TERRORIS' 3PRE5ENTION6ACT8 9::;

ARRANGE'ENT OF SECTIONS

PART I = PRELI'INAR*

1. #hort title.2. Interpretation.

PART II = 'ONE* LAUNDERING ANDTERRORIS' PROHIBITED

1. Offence of money laundering.4. Penalty for money laundering.5. Offence of terrorism and penalty.>. Offence committed by a body of persons.7. Attempts, aiding and abetting, conspiracy.8. Tipping-off.F. Falsification, concealment, etc., of documents.10. Ixtra-territorial Kurisdiction.

PART III = ANTI?'ONE* LAUNDERING ANDANTI?TERRORIS' SUPER5ISION

11. PoLers of the Financial Intelligence Mnit.12. Freezing of funds connected Lith terrorism.11. Disclosure to foreign institutions and agencies.14. Agreements and arrangements by the Financial Intelligence Mnit.15. Peporting entities to identify and verify identity of customer.1>. Other obligations of reporting entities.17. Peporting of suspicious transactions by reporting entities.18. Peporting entity to appoint a compliance officer and establish proce-

dures, etc.

1F. Financial institutions and money transmission service providers toinclude originator information.

20. FIMRs poLer to obtain search Larrants.21. Pole of supervisory authority.22. #anctions by supervisory authorities.21. Production orders.24. Ividential value of information.25. Failure to comply Lith a production order.2>. Production orders in relation to foreign offences.27. PoLer to search for and seize documents relevant to locating property.28. #earch Larrant for location of documents relevant to locating prop-

erty.2F. PoLers to search for and seize tainted property or terrorist property.10. #earch Larrants in relation to tainted property or terrorist property.11. #earch Larrants in relation to foreign offences.12. Sonitoring orders.11. Sonitoring orders not to be disclosed.14. PoLer to intercept communications and the admissibility of inter-

cepted communications.15. Sandatory inKunction to enforce compliance.1>. Other measures to avoid money laundering and terrorist financing.17. Currency reporting Lhen entering or leaving Belize.18. #eizure and detention of suspicious imports or exports of currency.

PART I5 = FREEZING AND FORFEITURE OF ASSETS INRELATION TO 'ONE* LAUNDERING AND

TERRORIST FINANCING

1F. Application for a Pestraining Order.40. Pestraining orders.41. MndertaVing by the Government.42. Notice of application for restraining order.41. #ervice of restraining order.44. Pegistration of restraining order.45. Contravention of restraining order.4>. Duration of restraining order.47. PevieL of restraining order.48. Ixtension of restraining order.

ii

4F. Forfeiture order on conviction.50. Iffect of forfeiture order on conviction.51. Yoidable transfers.52. Protection of third parties.51. Discharge of forfeiture order on appeal and quashing of conviction.54. Payment instead of a forfeiture order.55. Application of procedure for enforcing fines.5>. Forfeiture Lhere a person dies or absconds.57. Pecuniary penalty order on conviction.58. Pules for determining benefit and assessing value.5F. #tatements relating to benefit from commission of serious crimes.>0. Amount recovered under pecuniary penalty order.>1. Yariation of pecuniary penalty order.>2. [ifting the corporate veil.>1. Inforcement of pecuniary penalty order.>4. Discharge of pecuniary penalty order.>5. Pights of bona fide third parties.>>. Immunity from action.>7. #eizure and detention of terrorist cash.>8. Terrorist financing.>F. Pelated offences in relation to terrorist financing.70. Dealing in terrorist property.71. Directives.72. Application for forfeiture order.71. Notice of Application.74. Forfeiture order for terrorist property.75. Iffect of forfeiture order in respect of terrorist property.

PART 5 = INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION

7>. Assistance to foreign countries.

PART 5I = 'ISCELLANEOUS

77. Soney laundering and terrorist financing to be extraditable offences.78. Istablishment of the Fund.7F. Peceipts and Disbursements.

iii

80. Annual report to National Assembly.81. #ecrecy obligations overridden.82. Disclosure protected.81. General penalty for non-compliance.84. Investigation and prosecution of offences.85. [imitation of proceedings.8>. Pegulations.87. Commencement.88. Pepeal of Chapter 104.

FIP#T #C\IDM[I = ActiCitieE anH bJEineEEeE EJbject to thiE ActN

#ICOND #C\IDM[I = SerioJE OffenceE

T\IPD #C\IDM[I = SJperCiEory aJthoritieE

FOMPT\ #C\IDM[I = CoJnter TerroriES ConCentionE

__________ .. __________

iv

AN ACT to make new and improved provisions for theinvestigation and prosecution of money laundering,terrorism and other related crimes; to provide for theforfeiture of the proceeds of crime and terroristproperty; to require reporting entities to takepreventative measures to help combat moneylaundering and terrorist financing; and to provide formatters connected therewith or incidental thereto.

(Gazetted )1+t ,ece./er, 2008.)

BE IT ENACTED, by and with the advice and consent ofthe House of Representatives and the Senate of Belizeand by the authority of the same, as follows:-

PART I

PRELI'INAR*

1. This Act may be cited as the

'ONE* LAUNDERING AND TERRORIS'3PRE5ENTION6 ACT8 9::;N

No. 18] Money Laundering and Terrorism (Prevention) 99

Short title.

NoN T; of 9::;

I aEEent8

3SIR COL5ILLE NN *OUNG6Governor-General

10th December, 2008

Interpretation. 2. (1) In this Act, unless the context otherLise re-quires_

UaccoJntV means any facility or arrangement by Lhich afinancial institution does any one or more of the folloLing`

(a) accepts deposits of currencya

(/) alloLs LithdraLals of currency or transfersinto or out of the accounta

(c) pays cheques or payment orders draLn on afinancial institution by, or collects cheques orpayment orders on behalf of, a persona

(d) supplies a facility or arrangement for a safetydeposit boxa

(e) accepts or holds stocVs, bonds or mutual fundsa

UaccJEeHV means a person charged Lith a serious crime,Lhether or not he has been convicted of the crime, andincludes in the case of proceedings for a production order,monitoring order, customer information order, Larrant orrestraining order under this Act, a person Lho is about to becharged Lith a serious crime or is being investigated for aserious crimea

UaJthorizeH officerV means a person or class of personsdesignated as such by the Sinistera

Ubeneficial oYnerV means the natural person Lho ultimatelyoLns or controls a customer, the person on behalf of Lhoma transaction is conducted or the person Lho exercisesultimate control over a legal person or legal arrangementa

UbJEineEE relationEhipV or UbJEineEE tranEactionV meansany arrangement, including opening an account, betLeen

100 Money Laundering and Terrorism (Prevention) [No.18

tLo or more persons Lhere the purpose of the arrangementis to facilitate a transaction betLeen the persons concernedand includes any related transaction betLeen any of thepersons concerned and another persona

UcollectiCe inCeEtSent EcheSeV means a scheme, inLhatever form, in pursuance of Lhich, members of thepublic are invited or permitted to invest money or otherassets in a portfolio, and Lhich scheme has the folloLingcharacteristics _

(a) tLo or more investors contribute money orother assets to hold a participatory interest in aportfolio of the scheme through shares, units orany other form of participatory interesta and

(/) the investors share the risV and the benefit ofinvestment in proportion to their participatoryinterest in a portfolio of a scheme or on anyother basis determined in the deeda

UcoJrtV means the ordinary courts in Belize Lhere civil orcriminal proceedings may be instituted, unless otherLisespecifieda

bcreHit Jnionc means a credit union registered under therelevant laL Lith specific poLers to promote thrift, enterpriseand cooperative principles among its members, to poolfinancial resources of its members and to provide neededlending, investment and other financial services to thema

UcJrrencyV means the coin and paper money of Belize or ofa foreign country that is designated as legal tender and Lhichis customarily used and accepted as a medium of exchangein the country of issuea

UcJEtoSerV means a person or entity purchasing or using aservice or commodity and includes an applicant for theservices of a business and a clienta


UDirectorV means the Director of the Financial IntelligenceMnit appointed pursuant to section 4 of the FinancialIntelligence Mnit Acta

UHocJSentV means any record of information and includes_

(a) anything on Lhich there is Lritinga

(/) anything on Lhich there are marVs, figures,symbols, or perforations having meaning forpersons qualified to interpret thema

(c) anything from Lhich sounds, images or Lritingcan be produced, Lith or Lithout the aid ofanything elsea

(d) a map, plan, draLing, photograph or similarthinga

UHollarV means dollar in Belize currency, unless otherLisespecifieda

Ufinancial inEtitJtionV means a banV or financial institutionas defined in the BanVs and Financial Institutions Act or theInternational BanVing Act, and includes broVerage firmsand insurance companiesa

UFinancial IntelliZence UnitV or UFIUV means the FinancialIntelligence Mnit established pursuant to section 1 of theFinancial Intelligence Mnit Acta

UforfeitJreV means the permanent deprivation of propertyby order of a court or other competent authoritya

UfreezinZV means temporarily prohibiting the transfer,conversion, disposition or movement of property ortemporarily assuming custody or control of property on thebasis of an order issued by a court or other competentauthoritya

No. 35/ 2002.


CAP. 263.

No. 35/ 2002.

CAP. 267.

UZiftV includes any transfer of property by a person toanother person directly or indirectly _

(a) after the commission of a serious crime by thefirst persona and

(/) for a consideration the value of Lhich is sig-nificantly less than the value of the consider-ation provided by the first persona and

(c) to the extent of the difference betLeen themarVet value of the property transferred andthe consideration provided by the transferee.

UGoCernSentV means the Government of Belizea

UiHentification recorHV means any reliable and independentsource documents, data or information or other evidence asis reasonably capable of establishing the true identity andverifying the identity of the applicant of a reporting entity,including a valid driving licence, a social security card, avalid passport and in the case of a body corporate, acertified copy of the Semorandum and Articles ofAssociation, a certificate of incorporation together Lith thelatest annual return to the Pegistrar-General or othercompetent authoritya

UinEtrJSentalityV means something that is used, or intendedfor use, in any manner in the commission of a moneylaundering or terrorist financing offencea

UinEJrance bJEineEEV means the assumption of theobligations of an insurer in any class of insurance businessand includes reinsurance businessa

UintereEtV in relation to property, means _


(a) a legal or equitable interest in the propertya

(/) a right, poLer or privilege in connection Liththe propertya

U'iniEterV means the Sinister responsible for Financea

USoney laJnHerinZV means conduct Lhich constitutes anoffence as described under section 1a

UperEonV means a natural person or a legal person andincludes, among others, a corporation, partnership, trust orestate, Koint stocV company, association, syndicate, Kointventure, or other unincorporated organization or group,capable of acquiring rights or entering into obligationsa

Upolitically e[poEeH perEonV means any individual Lho isor has been entrusted Lith prominent public functions inBelize or in another country or territory, including \eads of#tate or of government, senior politicians, senior government,Kudicial or military officials, senior executives of state oLnedcorporations, important political party officials includingfamily members or close associates of the politically exposedpersona

UproceeHinZEV means any procedure conducted by or underthe supervision of a Kudge, magistrate or other competentauthority, hoLever described, in relation to any alleged orproven offence, or property derived from such an offence,and includes an inquiry, investigation, preliminary or finaldetermination of factsa

UproceeHE of criSeV means any property derived, obtainedor realized, directly or indirectly, as a result of or inconnection Lith a serious crime and includes, on aproportional basis, property into Lhich any property derivedor realized directly from such offence Las later converted,transformed or intermingled, as Lell as income, capital or


other economic gains derived or realised from such propertyat any time since the crimea

UpropertyV or UfJnHEV includes money, investments,holdings, possessions and assets of every Vind, Lhethercorporeal or incorporeal, movable or immovable, legaldocuments or instruments evidencing title, or interest in suchassets, Lherever situate (Lhether in Belize or elseLhere)a

Uproperty of or in the poEEeEEion or control of anyperEonV includes any gift made to that persona

Urealizable propertyV means _

(a) any property held by an accuseda

(/) any property possessed by a person to Lhom anaccused has directly or indirectly made a gift asdefined in this Acta

breportinZ entityc shall mean any person Lhose regularoccupation or business is the carrying on of _

(a) any activity listed in the First #chedule to thisActa

(/) any other activity defined by the Sinister assuch by an Order published in the Gazettea

UEerioJE criSeV means an offence against a provision of _

(a) any laL in Belize, for Lhich the maximumpenalty is death or imprisonment for life orother deprivation of liberty for a period exceed-ing 24 monthsa or

(/) a laL of a foreign state, in relation to acts oromissions Lhich, had they occurred in Belize,

FirstSchedule.


Lould have constituted an offence for Lhichthe maximum penalty is death, or imprison-ment for life or other deprivation of liberty fora period exceeding 24 months,

and includes an offence listed in the #econd #chedule to thisAct regardless of penaltya

UEJperCiEory aJthorityV means the authority set out incolumn 2 of the Third #chedule Lho has compliance oversightover the reporting entity set out in column 1 of that #chedule.

UtainteH propertyV means (i) property intended for use in,or used in or in connection Lith the commission of a seriouscrimea or (ii) proceeds of crimea

bterroriESV or bterroriEt actc means`

(a) an act or omission, Lhether committed in oroutside Belize, Lhich constitutes an offenceLithin the scope of a counter terrorism conven-tion listed in the Fourth #chedule to this Acta or

(/) an act, or threat of action in or outside BelizeLhich`

(i) involves serious bodily harm to a persona

(ii) involves serious damage to propertya

(iii) endangers a personRs lifea

(i8) creates a serious risV to the health orsafety of the public or a section of thepublica

(8) involves the use of firearms or explo-sivesa

SecondSchedule.

ThirdSchedule.

FourthSchedule.


(8i) involves releasing into the environmentor any part thereof or distributing or ex-posing the public or any part thereof to`

(a) any dangerous, hazardous,radioactive or harmful substancea

(/) any toxic chemicala

(c) any microbial or other biologicalagent or toxina

(8ii) is designed or intended to disrupt anycomputer system or the provision of ser-vices directly related to communicationsinfrastructure, banVing or financial ser-vices, utilities, transportation or other es-sential infrastructurea

(8iii) is designed or intended to disrupt theprovision of essential emergency servicessuch as police, civil defence or medicalservicesa

(i9) involves preKudice to national security orpublic safetya or

(9) involves participating in the activities of aterrorist group, including the supplyingof information or material resources, orthe funding of its activities in any Lay,Lith VnoLledge of the fact that suchparticipation Lill contribute to the crimi-nal activities of the groupa

and is intended, or by its nature and context, may reasonablybe regarded as being intended, to`


(a) intimidate the public or a section of the publicaor

(/) cause panic among the public or a section of thepublica

(c) cause indiscriminate harm or damage to per-sons or propertya

(d) disrupt a meeting or procession or any gather-ing of personsa

(e) cause a public mischief or to commit a mischie-vous acta

(f) compel a government or an internationalorganisation to do, or refrain from doing, anyacta or

(;) destabilise or destroy the fundamental political,constitutional, economic or social structures ofa country or an international organizationa or

(<) to advance or achieve a political, ideological,or religious causea

but an act Lhich is committed in pursuance of a protest,demonstration or stoppage of LorV shall be deemed not to beterrorism Lithin the meaning of this definition, as long, andas long only, as the act is not intended to result in any harmto any person or damage to any property.

UterroriEtV shall mean any natural person Lho`

(a) commits, or attempts to commit, terrorist actsby any means, directly or indirectly, unlaL-fully and Lilfullya


(/) participates as an accomplice in terrorist actsa

(c) organizes or directs others to commit terroristsactsa or

(d) contributes to the commission of terrorist actsby a group of persons acting Lith a commonpurpose Lhere the contribution is made inten-tionally and Lith the aim of furthering theterrorist act or Lith the VnoLledge of the inten-tion of the group to commit a terrorist act.

UterroriEt financinZV shall have the meaning given undersection >8 of this Acta

UterroriEt ZroJp or orZanizationV shall mean any group ofterrorists that`

(a) commits, or attempts to commit, terrorist actsby any means, directly or indirectly, unlaL-fully and Lilfullya

(/) participates as an accomplice in terrorist actsa

(c) organizes or directs others to commit terroristactsa or

(d) contributes to the commission of terrorist actsby a group of persons acting Lith a commonpurpose Lhere the contribution is made inten-tionally and Lith the aim of furthering theterrorist act or Lith the VnoLledge of the inten-tion of the group to commit a terrorist acta

UterroriEt propertyV means _

(a) proceeds from the commission of terrorisma


(/) money or other property Lhich has been, isbeing or is liVely to be used to commit terror-isma or

(c) money or other property Lhich has been, isbeing, or is liVely to be used by a terrorist groupor terrorista or

(d) property oLned or controlled by or on behalf ofa terrorist groupa or

(e) property Lhich has been collected for the pur-pose of providing support to a terrorist group orfunding a terrorist acta

UtranEactionV shall include`

(a) opening of an accounta

(/) any deposit, LithdraLal, exchange or transferof funds in any currency Lhether in cash or bycheque, payment order or other instrument orby electronic or other non physical meansa

(c) the use of a safety deposit box or any other formof safe deposita

(d) entering into any fiduciary relationshipa

(e) any payment made or received in satisfaction,in Lhole or in part, of any contractual or otherlegal obligationa

(f) any payment made in respect of a lottery, bet orother game of chancea

(;) an act or combination of acts performed for oron behalf of a client in connection Lith pur-


chasing, using or performing one or more ser-vices, or

(<) such other actions as may be prescribed by theSinister by Order published in the Gazettea

UJnit trJEtV means any arrangement made for the purposeor having the effect of providing, for a person having fundsavailable for investment, facilities for the participation by theperson as a beneficiary under a trust, in any profits or incomearising from the acquisition, holding, management or disposalof any property pursuant to the trust.

(2) The Sinister may from time to time by Order pub-lished in the Gazette amend any of the #chedules to this Act.

(1) dnoLledge, intent, purpose, belief or suspicionrequired as an element of any offence under this Act may beinferred from obKective, factual circumstances.

(4) Any reference in this Act to a person being chargedor about to be charged Lith a serious crime is a reference toa procedure, hoLever described, in Belize or elseLhere, byLhich criminal proceedings may be commenced.

(5) For the purposes of this Act, a person shall be taVento be convicted of a serious offence if _

(a) the person is convicted, Lhether summarily oron indictment, of the offencea

(/) the person is charged Lith, and found guilty of,the offence but is discharged Lithout any con-viction being recordeda

(c) the court, Lith the consent of the convictedperson, taVes the offence, of Lhich the personhas not been found guilty, into account in

Schedules.

How to inferknowledge,etc.

Meaning ofcharge inrelation to aseriouscrime.

Meaning ofconviction inrelation to aseriouscrime.


passing sentence on the person for anotherserious offence.

(>) For the purposes of this Act, a personRs convictionfor a serious crime shall be taVen to be quashed in any case_

(a) Lhere subsection 5 (a) applies, if the convic-tion is quashed or set asidea

(/) Lhere subsection 5 (b) applies, if the finding ofguilt is quashed or set asidea

(c) Lhere subsection 5 (c) applies, if either _

(i) the personRs conviction for the other of-fence referred to in that section, is quashedor set asidea or

(ii) the decision of the court to taVe the of-fence into account in passing sentence forthat other offence is quashed or set asidea

(d) Lhere the Governor-General, acting on theadvice of the Belize Advisory Council, grantsthe person a pardon in respect of the personRsconviction for the offence.

(7) For the purposes of this Act, dealing Lith propertyheld by any person includes, Lithout preKudice to the gener-ality of the expression _

(a) Lhere the property is a debt oLed to thatperson, maVing a payment to any person inreduction or full settlement of the amount of thedebta

(/) Lhere the property is an interest in a partner-ship, doing anything to diminish the value ofthe partnershipa

Meaning ofquashing ofconviction.

Meaning ofdealing withproperty.


(c) maVing or receiving a gift of the propertya or

(d) removing the property from Belize.

(8) In this Act, a reference to a benefit derived orobtained by or otherLise accruing to a person includes areference to a benefit derived or obtained by, or otherLiseaccruing to, another person at the request or direction of thefirst person.

(F) For the purposes of this Act _

(a) a person has benefited from an offence if theperson has at any time received any payment orother reLard in connection Lith, or derivedany pecuniary advantage from, the commis-sion of a serious offence, Lhether committedby that person or another persona

(/) a personRs proceeds of crime are any paymentsor other reLards received by the person inconnection Lith, and any pecuniary advantagederived by the person at any time from, thecommission of a serious crimea and

(c) the value of a personRs proceeds of crime is theaggregate of the values of the payments, re-Lards or pecuniary advantages received byhim in connection Lith, or derived by himfrom, the commission of a serious crime.

(10) The poLers of the Financial Intelligence Mnit underthis Act are in addition to and not in derogation from thepoLers of the FIM under the Financial Intelligence Mnit Act,and the FIM may exercise all or any of such poLers as theoccasion may require.

Meaning ofderiving abenefit.

Meaning ofbenefitingfrom theproceeds ofcrime.

Powers of theFIU under theFIU Act notaffected.

No. 35/2002.


PART II

'oney LaJnHerinZ anH TerroriES ProhibiteH

1. (1) A person commits the offence of money laun-dering if the person VnoLing or having reasonable groundsto believe that any property in Lhole or in part, directly orindirectly, represents any personRs proceeds of crime`-

(a) converts or transfers that property for thepurpose of concealing or disguising theillicit origin of the property or of assistingany person Lho is involved in the com-mission of the crime to evade the legalconsequences of his actiona

(/) conceals or disguises the true nature,source, location, disposition, movement,rights Lith respect to or oLnership of thatpropertya

(c) acquires, possesses, uses or otherLisedeals Lith that propertya or

(d) participates in, associates Lith or con-spires to commit, attempts to commit, oraids and abets, or facilitates, counsels orprocures the commission of any of theabove acts.

(2) For the purpose of proving a money launderingoffence under subsection (1), it shall not be necessary toprove Lhich serious crime has been committed or Lhocommitted the crime.

4. A person guilty of an offence under the provisions ofsection 1 of this Act, shall be punishable on conviction,

Offence ofmoneylaundering.

Penalty formoneylaundering.


(i) in the case of a natural person, Lith a fineLhich shall not be less than fifty thousanddollars but Lhich may extend to tLo hundredand fifty thousand dollars, or Lith imprison-ment for a term Lhich shall not be less than fiveyears but Lhich may extend to ten years, orLith both such fine and term of imprisonment,and,

(ii) in the case of a legal person or other entity, Litha fine Lhich shall not be less than one hundredthousand dollars but Lhich may extend to fivehundred thousand dollars.

5. A person Lho commits a terrorist act shall be guilty ofan offence and shall be punishable on conviction,

(i) in the case of a natural person, Lith imprison-ment for a term Lhich shall not be less than tenyears but Lhich may extend to imprisonmentfor life, and

(ii) in the case of a legal person or other entity, Litha fine Lhich shall not be less than five hundredthousand dollars but Lhich may extend to onemillion dollars.

>. ehere an offence under the provisions of sections 1,5 or >8 of this Act is committed by a body of persons,Lhether corporate or unincorporate, every person Lho, atthe time of the commission of the offence, acted in an officialcapacity for or on behalf of such body of persons, Lhetheras director, manager, secretary or other similar officer, orLas purporting to act in such capacity, shall be guilty of thatoffence and punished accordingly, unless he adduces evi-dence to shoL that the offence Las committed Lithout hisVnoLledge, consent or connivance.

Offence ofterrorism andpenalty.

Offencecommitted bya body ofpersons.


7. Any person Lho attempts or Lho aids, abets, coun-sels, or procures the commission of, or Lho conspires tocommit, the offence of money laundering or terrorism isguilty of an offence and shall be liable to the same penaltiesas prescribed for money laundering and terrorism in sections4 and 5 of this Act, as the case may be.

8. (1) It is an offence for a person Lho VnoLs orsuspects that an investigation into money laundering, terror-ism or the proceeds of crime has been, is being, or is aboutto be, conducted, to divulge that fact or other information toanother Lhereby the investigation is liVely to be preKudiced.

(2) A person guilty of an offence under subsection(1) above shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceed-ing fifty thousand dollars, or to imprisonment for a term notexceeding three years, or to both such fine and term ofimprisonment.

F. (1) It is an offence for a person to falsify, conceal,destroy or otherLise dispose of or cause or permit thefalsification, concealment, destruction or disposal of anydocument or material Lhich is or liVely to be relevant to aninvestigation into money laundering, terrorism or the pro-ceeds of crime or to any order made in accordance Lith theprovisions of this Act.

(2) A person guilty of an offence under subsection(1) above shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceed-ing one hundred thousand dollars or to imprisonment for aterm not exceeding five years, or to both such fine and termof imprisonment.

10. NotLithstanding anything to the contrary containedin any other laL, the offences created by this Act shall beinvestigated, tried, Kudged and sentenced by a court in Belizeregardless of Lhether or not the serious offences occurred inBelize or in another territorial Kurisdiction, but LithoutpreKudice to extradition Lhere applicable in accordance Liththe laL.

Attemptsaiding andabettingconspiracy.

Tipping-off.

Falsification,concealment,etc., ofdocuments.

Extra-territorialjurisdiction.


PART III

Anti?'oney LaJnHerinZ anH Anti?TerroriES SJperCiEion

11. (1) eithout preKudice to its poLers and responsi-bilities under the Financial Intelligence Mnit Act, the Finan-cial Intelligence Mnit _

(a) shall receive, analyse and assess reports ofsuspicious transactions issued by reporting en-tities pursuant to section 17(4)a

(/) shall taVe appropriate action as it may considernecessary or shall forLard relevant informa-tion to the appropriate laL enforcement au-thorities, if having considered a report or otherinformation, the Financial Intelligence Mnithas reasonable grounds to suspect that thetransaction involves proceeds of crime or ter-rorist financinga

(c) shall send to the appropriate laL enforcementauthorities, any information derived from theexamination or supervision of a reporting en-tity, if it gives the Financial Intelligence Mnitreasonable grounds to suspect that a transac-tion involves proceeds of crime or terroristfinancinga

(d) may instruct any reporting entity to taVe suchsteps as may be appropriate, including thefreezing of funds and other financial assets oreconomic resources of any person or entity, tofacilitate any investigation, prosecution or pro-ceeding for a money laundering offence or forterrorist financing, Lhether in Belize or else-Lherea

Powers of theFinancialIntelligenceUnit.No. 35/2002


(e) shall compile statistics and records, dissemi-nate information Lithin Belize or elseLhere asprovided by laL, maVe recommendations aris-ing out of any information received, issue guide-lines to reporting entities and advise the Sinis-ter accordinglya

(f) may conduct research into trends and develop-ments in the area of money laundering andfinancing of terrorism and improved Lays ofdetecting, preventing and deterring money laun-dering and terrorist financinga

(;) may educate the public and create aLarenesson matters relating to money laundering andterrorist financinga

(<) shall create training requirements and providesuch training for any reporting entity in respectof its identification, record-Veeping and report-ing obligations provided for in sections 15, 1>,17, 18 and 1F of this Acta

(i) may consult Lith any relevant person, institu-tion or organization for the purpose of exercis-ing its poLers or duties under paragraph (d),(e), (f) or (;)a

(>) is authorized to extend legal assistance toforeign Kurisdictions Lith respect to propertytracVing, monitoring and forfeiture orfreezing ordersa

(?) shall have the authority to request informationfrom any reporting entities, supervisoryauthorities, laL enforcement agencies and otherdomestic government agencies, for purposes ofthis Act Lithout the need for agreements or


arrangements as required under subsection (1)(o)a

(l) shall periodically provide feedbacV to report-ing entities, supervisory authorities and otherrelevant agenciesa

(.) may disclose any report, any information de-rived from such report or any other informationit receives pursuant to this section to an institu-tion or agency of a foreign state or of aninternational organization established by thegovernments of foreign states that has poLersand duties similar to those of the FinancialIntelligence Mnit as set out in this section andsections 11 and 14 of this Act, or in the Finan-cial Intelligence Mnit Act, if on the basis of itsanalysis and assessment, the Financial Intelli-gence Mnit has reasonable grounds to suspectthat a report or information Lould be relevantto investigating proceeds of crime or investi-gating or prosecuting a serious crimea

(n) may disclose any report to the supervisoryauthority for purposes of ensuring complianceLith this Acta

(o) may enter into any agreements or arrangementsLith any domestic government institution oragency regarding the exchange of informationa

(p) shall, in respect of any reporting entity, exer-cise the poLers set out in section 21 and inrelation to this, may enter the premises of anyreporting entity during ordinary business hoursto inspect any record Vept by the reportingentity, and asV any question relating to suchrecord, maVe notes and taVe copies of Lhole orany part of the record.

No. 35/2002


(2) Ivery order made by the Financial IntelligenceMnit pursuant to paragraph (d) of subsection (1) above forthe freezing of funds or financial assets of any person shallcease to have effect after seven business days from themaVing of the Order, unless Lithin such period the FinancialIntelligence Mnit maVes an application to a fudge of the#upreme Court in Chambers for an order for the freezing ofsuch property, and the application shall be heard by theCourt as soon as practicable.

12. (1) ehere the Financial Intelligence Mnit has rea-sonable grounds for believing that the person by, for or onbehalf of Lhom any funds are held is or may be _

(a) a person Lho commits, attempts tocommit, facilitates or participates in thecommission of acts of terrorism, or Lhofinances such acts,

(/) a person controlled or oLned directly orindirectly by a person in 1a2, or

(c) a person acting on behalf, or at the direc-tion, of a person in 1a2,

the Financial Intelligence Mnit may by notice directthat those funds shall be frozen and shall not be madeavailable to any person.

(2) A direction given under subsection (1) aboveshall specify either _

(a) the period for Lhich the direction is tohave effecta or

(/) that the direction is to have effect until itis revoVed by notice under subsection (1)beloL.

Freezing offundsconnectedwithterrorism.


(1) The Financial Intelligence Mnit may by noticerevoVe a direction given under subsection (1) at any time.

(4) A notice under subsection (1) or (1) shall begiven in Lriting to the person holding the funds in question(bthe recipientc), and shall require the recipient to send acopy of the notice Lithout delay to the person Lhose fundsthey are, or for or on Lhose behalf they are held (btheoLnerc).

(5) A recipient shall be treated as complying Liththat requirement if, Lithout delay, he sends a copy of thenotice to the oLner at his last-VnoLn address or, if he doesnot have an address for the oLnera he maVes arrangementsfor a copy of the notice to be supplied to the oLner at the firstavailable opportunity.

(>) ehere a direction has been given under sub-section (1) above, any person by, for or on behalf of Lhomthose funds are held may apply to the #upreme Court for thedirection to be set asidea and on such application the Courtmay set aside the direction.

(7) A person Lho maVes an application undersubsection (>) above shall give a copy of the application andany Litness statement or affidavit in support to the FinancialIntelligence Mnit (and to any other person by, for or onbehalf of Lhom those funds are held), not later than sevendays before the date fixed for the hearing of the application.

(8) Any person Lho contravenes or fails to complyLith the requirements of this section shall be guilty of amoney laundering offence and shall be liable to the penaltiesprescribed in section 4 of this Act.

11. The Financial Intelligence Mnit may disclose anyreport or information as set out under section 11(1) (m) to aninstitution or agency of a foreign state or of an international


Disclosure toforeigninstitutionsand agencies.

organisation or body or other institution or agency estab-lished by the governments of foreign states that haspoLers and duties similar to those of the FinancialIntelligence Mnit _

(a) on such terms and conditions as are set out inthe agreement or arrangement betLeen theFinancial Intelligence Mnit and that foreignstate or international organisation regarding theexchange of such information under section14a or

(/) Lhere such an agreement or arrangement hasnot been entered into betLeen the FinancialIntelligence Mnit and that foreign state or inter-national organisation or body, on such termsand conditions as may be agreed upon by theFinancial Intelligence Mnit and the institutionor agency at the time of disclosure, Lhere suchterms and conditions shall include the folloL-ing _

(i) restriction on the use of the report orinformation to purposes relevant toinvestigating or prosecuting a seriouscrime, a money laundering offence,a terrorist financing offence or anoffence that is substantially similarto either offencea and

(ii) the stipulation that the report orinformation be treated in aconfidential manner and not befurther disclosed Lithout theexpress consent of the FinancialIntelligence Mnit.


14. (1) eith the prior approval of the Sinister, theFinancial Intelligence Mnit may enter into an agreement orarrangement, formally or informally, Lith the governmentof a foreign state, or an international organisation or bodyestablished by the governments of foreign states regardingthe exchange of reports or information betLeen the Finan-cial Intelligence Mnit and any institution or agency of thatstate or organisation that has poLers and duties similar tothose of the Financial Intelligence Mnit.

(2) The information exchanged under subsection(1) shall be information that Lould be relevant to investigatingor prosecuting a serious crime or a money laundering orterrorist financing offence, or an offence that is substantiallysimilar to either offence.

(1) Agreements or arrangements entered into undersubsection (1) or (2) shall include the folloLing`

(a) restriction on the use of information topurposes relevant to financial investiga-tions and to investigating or prosecuting aserious crime, or a money launderingoffence, or a terrorist financing offence,or an offence that is substantially similarto either offencea and

(/) the stipulation that the information betreated in a confidential manner and notbe further disclosed Lithout the expressconsent of the Financial Intelligence Mnit.

15. (1) Peporting entities shall establish the identityand verify the identity of any customer of the reporting entityby requiring the customer to produce an identification recordor such other reliable, independent source document as theSinister may prescribe.

Reportingentities toidentify andverify identityof customer.


Agreementsandarrangementsby theFinancialIntelligenceUnit.

(2) The requirements of subsection (1) shallapply Lhen _

(a) a reporting entity establishes a businessrelationshipa

(/) in the absence of such a relationship, areporting entity conducts _

(i) any transaction in an amount equalto or above the sum of fifteenthousand dollars or such otheramount as may from time to time beprescribed by the Sinister, Lhetherconducted as a single transaction orseveral transactions that appear tobe linVed and Lhere the amount ofthe transaction is unVnoLn at thetime of the transaction, theidentification and verification shallbe undertaVen as soon as the amountbecomes VnoLn or the said thresholdis reacheda

(ii) any Lire transfers as set out in section1Fa

(c) there is a suspicion of money launderingor terrorist financinga or

(d) the reporting entity has doubts about theveracity or adequacy of previouslyobtained customer identification data.

(1) eithout limiting the generality of subsection(1), a reporting entity shall _


(a) Lhen establishing a business relation-ship, obtain information on the purposeand nature of the business relationshipa

(/) if the transaction is conducted by anatural person, adequately identify andverify his identity including informationrelating to`

(i) the personRs name and addressa

(ii) the national identity card, socialsecurity document, passport or otherapplicable official identifyingdocumenta

(c) if the transaction is conducted by a legalentity, adequately identify the beneficialoLner of such entity and taVe reasonablemeasures to identify and verify its oLner-ship and control structure, including in-formation relating to`

(i) the customerRs name, legal form,head office address and identities ofdirectorsa

(ii) the principal oLners andbeneficiaries and control structurea

(iii) provisions regulating the poLer tobind the entitya and to verify thatany person purporting to act onbehalf of the customer is soauthorised, and identify thosepersonsa

(d) have appropriate risV managementsystems to determine if a customer or


beneficial oLner is a politically exposedperson, and if so, shall _

(i) adequately identify and verify hisidentity as set out in this sectiona

(ii) obtain the approval of seniormanagement before establishing abusiness relationship Lith thepolitically exposed persona

(iii) taVe reasonable measures toestablish the source of funds andsource of propertya and

(i8) conduct regular enhancedmonitoring of the businessrelationship.

(4) If it appears to a reporting entity that an appli-cant requesting it to enter into any business relationship ortransaction, Lhether or not in the course of a continuingbusiness relationship, is acting on behalf of another person,the reporting entity shall establish the true identity of anyperson on Lhose behalf or for Lhose ultimate benefit theapplicant may be acting in the proposed transaction, Lhetheras a trustee, nominee, agent or otherLise.

(5) Nothing in this section shall require the produc-tion of any evidence of identity Lhere _

(a) the customer is itself a financial institutionto Lhich this Act applies and Lhich hasbeen licensed or registered, and issupervised for anti-money laundering andcountering the financing of terrorismmeasures by a regulatory authority andthe reporting entity has satisfied itself as


to the adequacy of the measures to preventmoney laundering and the financing ofterrorisma or

(/) there is a transaction or a series oftransactions taVing place in the course ofa business relationship, in respect of Lhichthe applicant has already producedsatisfactory evidence of identity.

(>) (a) A banV or a financial institution shall, inrelation to its cross-border correspondentbanVing and other similar relationships _

(i) adequately identify and verifyrespondent institutions Lith Lhomit conducts such a businessrelationshipa

(ii) gather sufficient information aboutthe nature of the business of theperson or entitya

(iii) determine from publicly availableinformation the reputation of theperson or entity and the quality ofsupervision to Lhich the person orentity is subKect toa

(i8) assess the personRs or entityRs anti-money laundering and terroristfinancing controlsa

(8) obtain approval from seniormanagement before establishing aneL correspondent relationshipa

(8i) document the responsibilities of thefinancial institution and the personor entity.


(/) ehere the relationship is a payable-through account, a banV or a financialinstitution shall ensure that the person orentity Lith Lhom it has established therelationship_

(i) has verified the identity of andperformed on-going due diligenceon such of that personRs customersthat have direct access to accountsof the financial institutiona and

(ii) is able to provide the relevantcustomer identification data uponrequest to the financial institution.

(c) BanVs or financial institutions shall notmaintain any business relationship LithbanVs that do not maintain a physicalpresence under the laLs of Lhich theyLere established, unless they are part of afinancial group subKect to effective con-solidated supervision.

(7) ehere a reporting entity relies on anintermediary or third party to undertaVe its obligations undersubsections (1), (2) or (1) or to introduce business to it _

(a) it must be satisfied that the third party isable to provide copies of identificationdata and other documents relating to theobligation of due diligence under subsec-tions (1), (2) and (1) Lithout delaya

(/) it shall satisfy itself that the third party orintermediary is regulated and supervised,and has measures in place to comply Liththe requirements set out in sections 15and 1> of this Act.


(8) The Sinister may, in consultation Lith therelevant supervisory authority, prescribe _

(a) the official or identifying documents, orthe reliable and independent source docu-ments, data or information or other evi-dence that is required for identification orverification of any class of customers orapplicantsa

(/) threshold amounts and additional circum-stances in Lhich the provisions of thissection shall apply.

(F) In the case of an existing customer at the timeof this Act coming into force _

(a) a reporting entity shall verify the identityof the customer Lithin six months fromthe date of commencement of this Acta

(/) the Financial Intelligence Mnit may, inspecial circumstances, extend the saidperiod of six months for a further periodof up to six monthsa

(c) Lhere at the end of the six months orfurther period of up to six months, as thecase may be, a reporting entity is unableto verify the identity of a customer, thereporting entity shall terminate thebusiness relationship Lith such a customer.

1>. (1) Peporting entities shall establish and main-tain _

(a) records of all transactions in accordanceLith the requirements of subsection (1)a

Otherobligations ofreportingentities.


(/) Lhere evidence of a personRs identity isobtained in accordance Lith section 15, arecord that indicates the nature of theevidence obtained, and Lhich compriseseither a copy of the evidence or suchinformation as Lould enable a copy of itto be obtaineda

(c) account files and business correspondencein relation to accountsa

(d) Lritten reports established in accordanceLith section 17 of this Act.

(2) Customer accounts of a reporting entity shallbe Vept in the true name of the account holder.

(1) Pecords required under subsection (1) shallcontain particulars sufficient to identify _

(a) the name, address and occupation or,Lhere appropriate, business or principalactivity of each person _

(i) conducting the transactiona or

(ii) if VnoLn, on Lhose behalf thetransaction is being conducted,

as Lell as the method used by the report-ing entity to verify the identity of eachsuch persona

(/) the nature and date of the transactiona

(c) the type and amount of currency involveda

(d) the type and identifying number of anyaccount Lith the reporting entity involvedin the transactiona


(e) if the transaction involves a negotiableinstrument other than currency, the nameof the draLer of the instrument, the nameof the institution on Lhich it Las draLn,the name of the payee, if any, the amountand date of the instrument, the number, ifany, of the instrument and details of anyendorsements appearing on the instru-menta

(f) in the case of reports under section 17 andany other reports, the name and addressof the reporting entity, and of the officer,employee or agent of the reporting entityLho prepared the report.

(4) Pecords required under subsection (1) shall beVept by the reporting entity for a period of at least 5 yearsfrom the date the relevant business or transaction Lascompleted, or termination of business relationship, Lhich-ever is the later.

(5) A reporting entity shall _

(a) comply Lith any instruction issued to itby the Financial Intelligence Mnit pursu-ant to section 11 (1) 1d2a

(/) permit any authorized officer of theFinancial Intelligence Mnit to enter intoany premises of the reporting entity duringnormal LorVing hours and inspect therecords Vept pursuant to the provisions ofsubsection (1) of this section and maVeany notes or taVe any copies of the Lholeor any part of any such record and shallansLer any questions of the FinancialIntelligence Mnit in relation to suchrecordsa


(c) comply Lith the guidelines and trainingrequirements issued and provided by theFinancial Intelligence Mnit in accordanceLith paragraph 1e2 or 1h2 of section 11 (1).

(>) The requirements set forth in subsections (1),(1) and (4) of this section shall apply in the case of casinosor licensed gaming premises only Lhen a customer engagesin a transaction equal to or above the amount of ten thousanddollars, Belize currency (or its equivalent in foreign currency)or such other sums as may from time to time be prescribed bythe Sinister.

(7) Ivery reporting entity that contravenes or failsto comply Lith the provisions of this section shall be liableto a fine of up to five thousand dollars by the FinancialIntelligence Mnit.

(8) A reporting entity aggrieved by the decision ofthe Financial Intelligence Mnit pursuant to subsection (7)above may appeal to the #upreme Court under the provisionsof Part g of the #upreme Court of fudicature Act, and forthis purpose, the Financial Intelligence Mnit shall be deemedto be an inferior court and the rules governing the inferiorcourt appeals shall .utati+ .utandi+ apply to every suchappeal`

Provided that an appeal shall not by itself result in thesuspension of the decision under appeal, but the appellantmay, Lithin the time prescribed for filing such appeal, applyto the #upreme Court for stay of execution of the orderappealed from, pending the determination of such appeal.

17. (1) Peporting entities shall pay special attention to`

(a) all complex, unusual or large businesstransactions, or unusual patterns oftransactions, Lhether completed or not,


CAP. 91

Reporting ofsuspicioustransactionsby reportingentities.

and to insignificant but periodictransactions, that have no apparenteconomic or laLful purposea

(/) business relations and transactions Lithpersons including legal persons andarrangements, from or in Kurisdictions thatdo not have adequate systems in place toprevent or deter money laundering orterrorist financinga

(c) electronic funds transfer that do not con-tain complete originator information.

(2) In relation to subsection (1), a reporting entityshall`

(a) set forth in Lriting the specific informationregarding the transaction(s) or businessrelations specified in subsection (1) (a) to(c) of this section, its bacVground andpurpose to the extent VnoLn, and theidentity of the persons involveda and

(/) upon request, shall maVe available suchfindings to the Financial Intelligence Mnit.

(1) A reporting entity shall monitor its businessrelationships and the transactions undertaVen throughout thecourse of the relationship to ensure that its obligations undersection 15 are met and that the transactions conducted areconsistent Lith the information that the reporting entity hasof its customer and the profile of the customerRs business.

(4) ehenever a reporting entity suspects or hasreasonable grounds to suspect that any transaction, pro-posed transaction or attempted transaction is related to thecommission of a money laundering offence or terrorist


financing offence or is related or linVed to, or is to be usedin connection Lith a terrorist act or for the financing ofterrorism, or that the funds or property are the proceeds ofcrime, it shall as soon as possible but not later than 1 daysafter forming that suspicion and Lherever possible beforethe transaction is carried out _

(a) taVe reasonable measures to ascertain thepurpose of the transaction, the origin andultimate destination of the funds involvedand the identity and address, of any ulti-mate beneficiarya

(/) prepare a report of the transaction in ac-cordance Lith subsection (5) and sendthe report to the Financial IntelligenceMnit in such form as the Director, mayfrom time to time, approvea

(c) in case of reporting entities Lhich aredealers in precious metals and dealers inprecious stones and other dealers in highvalue goods, shall report any transactionsto the Financial Intelligence Mnit inaccordance Lith this subsection Lheneverthey engage in any cash transaction equalto or above the equivalent of fifteenthousand dollars or such other sum asmay from time to time be prescribed bythe Sinistera

(d) in case of reporting entities Lhich are realestate agents and dealers in vehicles, shallreport transactions in accordance Liththis subsection to the Financial Intelli-gence Mnit Lhen involved in transactionsfor their clients concerning the buying or


selling of real estate or vehicles of anydescription.

(5) A report required under subsection (4) shall _

(a) set forth all particulars VnoLn regardingthe transactiona

(/) contain a statement of the grounds onLhich the reporting entity holds thesuspiciona and

(c) be signed or otherLise authenticated bythe reporting entity.

(>) A reporting entity Lhich has reported a suspi-cious transaction in accordance Lith this section shall, ifrequested to do so by the Financial Intelligence Mnit, givesuch further information as requested by the Financial Intel-ligence Mnit.

(7) (a) If the Financial Intelligence Mnit, afterconsulting the entity that reported the transaction required tomaVe a report under subsection (4), suspects or has reasonablegrounds to suspect that a transaction or a proposed transactionmay involve the proceeds of crime or a money laundering orterrorist financing offence or is related or linVed to, or is tobe used in connection Lith a terrorist act or for the financingof terrorism, it may direct the reporting entity in Lriting,electronically or by telephone to be folloLed up in Lriting,not to proceed Lith the carrying out of that transaction orproposed transaction or any other transaction in respect ofthe funds affected by that transaction or proposed transactionfor a period as may be determined by the Financial IntelligenceMnit Lhich may not be more than five days, in order to alloLthe Financial Intelligence Mnit _

(i) to maVe necessary inquiriesconcerning the transactiona and


(ii) if the Financial Intelligence Mnitdeems it appropriate, to inform andadvise a supervisory authority.

(/) For the purposes of calculating the periodof five days referred to in subsection (7)(a), #aturdays, #undays and public andbanV holidays shall not be taVen intoaccount.

(8) The provisions of subsections (4), (5), (>) and(7) are applicable to`

(a) laLyers, notaries, other independent legalprofessionals and accountants Lhen, onbehalf of or for a client, they prepare foror engage in or carry out a transaction inrelation to the folloLing activities`

(i) buying and selling of real estatea

(ii) managing of client money, securitiesor other assetsa

(iii) management of banV, savings orsecurities accountsa

(i8) organisation of contributions for thecreation, operation or managementof companiesa

(8) creation, operation or managementof legal persons or arrangements,and buying and selling of businessentitiesa

(/) trust and company service providers,Lhen they prepare for or engage in or


carry out a transaction for or on behalf ofa client, in relation to the folloLing activi-ties`

(i) acting as a formation agent of legalpersonsa

(ii) acting as (or arranging for anotherperson to act as) a director orsecretary of a company, a partner ofa partnership, or a similar positionin relation to other legal personsa

(iii) providing a registered office,business address or accommodation,correspondence or administrativeaddress for a company, a partnershipor any other legal person orarrangementa

(i8) acting as (or arranging for anotherperson to act as) a trustee of anexpress trusta

(8) acting as (or arranging for anotherperson to act as) a nomineeshareholder for another person.

(F) Nothing in this section requires any laLyer todisclose any privileged communication.

(10) For the purposes of this section, a communica-tion is a privileged communication only if`

(a) it is to a person Lho is a professional legaladviser and the disclosure falls Lithinsubsection (/).


(/) A disclosure falls Lithin this subsection ifit is a disclosure -

(i) by or by a representative of a clientof the professional legal adviser inthe course of ascertaining the legalposition of the clienta

(ii) from or through a client in connectionLith the performing by the legaladviser of the tasV of defending orrepresenting that client in, orconcerning Kudicial, administrative,arbitration or mediation proceedings`

Provided that a disclosure does not fallLithin subsection (/) if it is made Lith theintention of furthering a criminal pur-pose.

(11) Any person Lho VnoLs or suspects that areport under this section is being prepared for or Lill be orhas been sent to the Financial Intelligence Mnit or anyadditional information requested by the Financial Intelli-gence Mnit has been prepared or sent shall not disclose toanother person, other than a court, supervisory authority orother person authorized by laL, any information or othermatter in relation to the report. This shall not precludedisclosures or communications regarding suspicions of moneylaundering or financing of terrorism betLeen and amongdirectors, partners, officers, principals, and employees of thereporting entity and appropriate competent authorities.

(12) No criminal, civil, disciplinary or administrativeproceedings for breach of banVing or professional secrecy orcontract may be instituted against the reporting entity, or itsdirectors, principals, officers, partners or employees Lho ingood faith submit reports or provide information in


accordance Lith the provisions of this section. No criminalaction for money laundering or financing of terrorism shallbe brought against a reporting entity, or its directors,principals, officers, partners or employees in connectionLith the execution of a suspicious transaction Lhere suchentity or person complied Lith the provisions of this section.

(11) eithout preKudice to any criminal and/or civilliabilities for offences connected to money laundering orterrorist financing, a reporting entity, and its directors,officers and employees, that fail to comply Lith the require-ments of this section or Lho Lilfully maVe a false or untruereport referred to above, shall be liable to a fine not exceed-ing fifty thousand dollars by the Financial Intelligence Mnitand, in addition, the licence of such reporting entity tooperate as such may be suspended or revoVed by the licens-ing authority.

(14) A reporting entity or its directors, officers oremployees aggrieved by the decision of the FinancialIntelligence Mnit pursuant to subsection (11) above mayappeal to the #upreme Court under the provisions of Part gof the #upreme Court of fudicature Act, and for this purpose,the Financial Intelligence Mnit shall be deemed to be aninferior court and the rules governing the inferior courtappeals shall .utati+ .utandi+ apply to every such appeal`


(15) The question Lhether a suspicion for the pur-pose of this section has been formed shall be determinedobKectively having regard to all the facts and surroundingcircumstances.


Cap. 91

18. (1) A reporting entity shall`

(a) appoint a compliance officer Lho shall beresponsible for ensuring the reportingentityRs compliance Lith the requirementsof this Acta

(/) establish and maintain internal policies,procedures, controls and systems to`

(i) implement the customeridentification requirementsa

(ii) implement record Veeping andretention requirementsa

(iii) implement the monitoringrequirementsa

(i8) implement the reportingrequirements under section 17a

(8) maVe its officers and employeesaLare of the laLs relating tocombating money laundering andfinancing of terrorisma

(8i) maVe its officers and employeesaLare of the procedures and policiesadopted by it to deter moneylaundering and the financing ofterrorisma and

(8ii) screen persons before hiring themas employeesa

(c) establish an audit function to test its anti-money laundering and combating the


Reportingentity toappoint acomplianceofficer andestablishprocedures,etc.

financing of terrorism procedures andsystemsa and

(d) train its officers, employees and agents torecognize suspicious transactions.

(2) A reporting entity shall`

(a) enable any person identified in accordanceLith subsection (1) (a) to have reasonableaccess to information that may be relevantto determining Lhether sufficient basisexists to report the matter pursuant tosection 17a and

(/) require the identified person to report thematter, pursuant to section 17, in theevent that he determines that sufficientbasis exists.

(1) The person identified in subsection (1) (a)shall`

(a) be a senior officer Lith relevant qualifica-tions and experience to enable him torespond sufficiently Lell to inquiries re-lating to the reporting entity and the con-duct of its businessa

(/) be responsible for establishing and main-taining such manual of compliance pro-cedures in relation to its business as theFinancial Intelligence Mnit may, fromtime to time, requirea

(c) be responsible for ensuring complianceby staff of the reporting entity Lith _


(i) this Act and any other laL relatingto money laundering or terroristfinancinga and

(ii) any manual of complianceprocedures establisheda and

(d) act as the liaison betLeen the reportingentity and the Financial Intelligence Mnitin matters relating to compliance Lith thisAct and any other laL or directive Lithrespect to money laundering or terroristfinancing.

(4) #ubsections (1) (a) and (2) do not apply to anindividual Lho, in the course of carrying on his business,does not employ or act in association Lith any other person,or if all their staff and management consists of less than fivepersons.

1F. (1) An institution or a person that is licensed to dobusiness in Belize as a banV or financial institution under theBanVs and Financial Institutions Act or the InternationalBanVing Act or a money transmission service provider shallverify, maintain and include accurate originator informationon outgoing electronic funds transfers and related outgoingmessages. #uch institutions and persons Lhen acting as anintermediary financial institution shall ensure that all origi-nator information that accompanies the Lire transfer isretained Lith the transfer.

(2) Originator information shall include name, placeLhere account exists and account number (or in the absenceof an account number, a unique reference number). #uchinformation shall be set forth in the message or payment formaccompanying the transfer.

(1) #ubsection (1) shall not apply to an electronicfunds transfer from a transaction carried out using a credit or


Financialinstitutionsand moneytransmissionserviceproviders toincludeoriginatorinformation.

Cap. 263Cap. 267

debit card if the credit or debit card number accompaniessuch transaction, unless the debit or credit card is used as apayment system to effect a money transfer in Lhich casesubsection (1) is applicable.

(4) #ubsection (1) shall not apply to electronicfunds transfers and settlements betLeen financial institu-tions Lhere the originator and beneficiary of the fundstransfer are the financial institutions acting on their oLnbehalf.

(5) Ivery person or entity that contravenes or failsto comply Lith the provisions of this section shall be liableto a fine of up to ten thousand dollars by the FinancialIntelligence Mnit.

(>) A person or entity aggrieved by the decision ofthe Financial Intelligence Mnit pursuant to subsection (5)above may appeal to the #upreme Court under the provisionsof Part g of the #upreme Court of fudicature Act, and forthis purpose, the Financial Intelligence Mnit shall be deemedto be an inferior court and the rules governing the inferiorcourt appeals shall .utati+ .utandi+ apply to every suchappeal`


20. eithout preKudice to its poLers under the FinancialIntelligence Mnit Act, the FIM or a laL enforcement agency,upon application to a fudge of the #upreme Court in Cham-bers e4 parte and satisfying him that there are reasonablegrounds to believe that _


CAP. 91

FIU’s powerto obtainsearchwarrants.No. 35/2002.

(a) a reporting entity has failed to establishand maintain records as provided by sec-tion 1>a

(/) a reporting entity has failed to report anybusiness transaction as provided by theprovisions of section 17 (4)a or

(c) an officer or employee of a reportingentity is committing, has committed or isabout to commit a money laundering or aterrorist financing offence,

may obtain a Larrant to enter any premises belonging to, inthe possession or under the control of the financial institutionor any officer or employee of such institution and to searchthe premises and remove any document, material or otherthing therein for the purposes of the Financial IntelligenceMnit or laL enforcement agency as ordered by the fudge andspecified in the Larrant.

21. (1) The supervisory authority responsible forsupervising each reporting entity shall supervise complianceby the entity Lith the requirements of sections 15, 1>, 17, 18and 1F of this Act.

(2) In accordance Lith the laL, the supervisoryauthority, shall`

(a) examine and supervise the reporting en-tity, and regulate and oversee effectivecompliance Lith the obligations set out insections 15, 1>, 17, 18 and 1F of this Actand any other preventative measures inrelation to combating money launderingand terrorist financing, through on-siteexaminations, or other meansa


Role ofsupervisoryauthority.

(/) issue instructions, guidelines orrecommendations to assist the reportingentity to comply Lith the obligations setforth in this Acta

(c) develop standards and/or criteriaapplicable to the reporting of suspiciousactivities that reflect other existing andfuture pertinent national andinternationally accepted standardsa

(d) impose requirements that the reportingentity should ensure that their foreignbranches and subsidiaries adopt andenforce measures consistent Lith this laLto the extent that local laLs and regulationsso permit, and Lhere the foreign branchor subsidiary is unable to adopt andobserve these measures, to report thematter to the designated supervisory orregulatory authority or the competentdisciplinary authoritya

(e) submit a report to the FinancialIntelligence Mnit, as soon as practicablebut no later than three LorVing days, anyinformation concerning suspicioustransactions, activities or facts that couldbe related to money laundering, thefinancing of terrorism or the proceeds ofcrimea

(f) cooperate Lith agencies performing simi-lar functions in other countries includingexchange of informationa

(;) maintain statistics concerning measuresadopted and sanctions imposed in thecontext of enforcing this Acta


(<) adopt the necessary measures to establishfit and proper criteria for oLning,controlling, or participating, directly orindirectly, in the directorship, managementor operation of a financial institution or acasino or other gaming establishment.

22. (1) Any supervisory or regulatory authority orcompetent disciplinary authority that discovers a breach ofthe obligations established under sections 15, 1>, 17, 18 and1F of this Act by a reporting entity it supervises may imposeone or more of the folloLing sanctions and measures aftergiving the reporting entity a reasonable opportunity to maVerepresentations on its oLn behalf`-

(a) Lritten Larningsa

(/) order to comply Lith specific instruc-tionsa

(c) ordering regular reports from the report-ing entity on the measures it is taVinga

(d) fine in an amount no less than fivethousand dollars and no greater thantLenty thousand dollarsa

(e) barring convicted individuals from em-ployment Lithin the sectora

(f) replacing or restricting the poLers ofmanagers, directors or controlling oLn-ers, including the appointing of ad hocadministratora or

(;) recommending to the appropriatelicensing authority of the reporting entitythat the reporting entityRs licence besuspended, restricted or LithdraLn.


Sanctions bysupervisoryauthorities.

(2) The supervisory authority shall inform the Fi-nancial Intelligence Mnit as to the sanctions imposed andmay order the publication of its decision.

(1) Any supervisory or regulatory authority or thecompetent disciplinary authority that discovers facts liVelyto constitute indication of money laundering or financing ofterrorism shall so inform the Financial Intelligence Mnit.

21. (1) ehere a person is being investigated for aserious offence, or has been charged Lith or convicted of aserious crime, or Lhere the Financial Intelligence Mnit or alaL enforcement authority is endeavouring to trace terroristproperty or funds or other property related to a serious crime,and a police officer or an authorised officer of the FinancialIntelligence Mnit has reasonable grounds for suspecting thatany person has possession or control of _

(a) a document relevant to identifying,locating or quantifying property of theperson or to identifying or locating adocument necessary for the transfer ofproperty of such persona or

(/) a document relevant to identifying,locating or quantifying tainted propertyin relation to the offence or to identifyingor locating a document necessary for thetransfer of tainted property in relation tothe offencea or

(c) a document relevant to identifying,locating or quantifying recoverableproperty or to identify or locating adocument related to the transfer of terroristpropertya or

(d) a document related to terrorist property,


Productionorders.

the police officer or an authorised officer of theFinancial Intelligence Mnit may apply e4 parte and inLriting to a Kudge of the #upreme Court in chambersfor an order against the person suspected of havingpossession or control of a document of the Vindreferred. The application shall be supported by anaffidavit.

(2) The Kudge may, if he considers there arereasonable grounds for so doing, maVe an order that theperson produce to a police officer or an authorized officer ofthe Financial Intelligence Mnit, at a time and place specifiedin the order, any documents of the Vind referred to insubsection (1).

(1) A police officer or an authorised officer of theFinancial Intelligence Mnit to Lhom documents are pro-duced may-

(a) inspect the documentsa

(/) maVe copies of the documentsa or

(c) retain the documents for so long as isreasonably necessary for the purposes ofthis Act.

(4) ehere a police officer or an authorised officerof the Financial Intelligence Mnit retains documents pro-duced to him, he shall maVe a copy of the documentsavailable to the person Lho produced them.

(5) NotLithstanding any other rule of laL or prac-tice to the contrary, a person is not entitled to refuse toproduce documents ordered to be produced under this sec-tion on the ground that _

(a) the document might tend to incriminatethe person or maVe him liable to a penaltyaor


(/) the production of the document Lould bein breach of an obligation of the personnot to disclose the existence or contentsof the document.

24. (1) ehere a person produces a document pursuantto an order under this section, the production of the docu-ment, or any information, document or things obtained as adirect or indirect consequence of the production of thedocument is not admissible against that person in any crimi-nal proceedings except proceedings under section 25.

(2) For the purposes of subsection (1), proceed-ings on an application for a restraining order, a forfeitureorder or a pecuniary penalty order are not criminal proceed-ings.

25.(1) ehere a person is required by a productionorder to produce a document to a police officer or anauthorised officer of the Financial Intelligence Mnit, theperson commits an offence against this section if he _

(a) contravenes the order Lithout reasonablecausea or

(/) in purported compliance Lith the order,produces or maVes available a documentVnoLn to the person to be false or mis-leading in a material particular and doesnot so indicate to the police officer or theauthorized officer of the FIM, and pro-vide to such officer any correct documentor information of Lhich the person is inpossession,

and on conviction shall be liable,

(i) in the case of a natural person, to a fine notexceeding ten thousand dollars or to imprison-


Evidentialvalue ofinformation.

Failure tocomply with aproductionorder.

ment for a term not exceeding tLo years, or toboth such fine and imprisonmenta and

(ii) in the case of a legal person or other entity, toa fine Lhich shall be not less than fifty thou-sand dollars but Lhich may extend to onehundred thousand dollars.

2>. ehere a foreign #tate requests assistance to locate orseize property suspected to be tainted property in respect ofan offence Lithin its Kurisdiction, the provisions of section21 shall apply Lith necessary modifications.

27. (1) A police officer or an authorized officer of theFinancial Intelligence Mnit may _

(a) enter upon land or upon or into premisesa

(/) search the land or premises for any docu-ment of the type described in section21(1)a and

(c) seize any document found in the courseof that search that the aforementionedofficer believes, on reasonable grounds,to be a relevant document in relation to aserious crime`

Provided that the entry, search and seizureis made Lith the consent of the occupierof the land or the premises, or under aLarrant issued by a court under this Act.

(2) The poLers contained in subsection (1) areLithout preKudice to the poLers of the FIM under theFinancial Intelligence Mnit Act.


Productionorders inrelation toforeignoffences.

Power tosearch forand seizedocumentsrelevant tolocatingproperty.

No. 35/2002

28. (1) ehere _

(a) there are reasonable grounds to believethat a person has been charged Lith orconvicted of a serious crime, or is or Lillbe involved in the commission of a seriousoffensea or

(/) a police officer or an authorised officer ofthe Financial Intelligence Mnit hasreasonable grounds for suspecting thatthere is, or may be Lithin the next 72hours, upon any land or upon or in anypremises, a document in relation to theoffence or in relation to any taintedproperty, realizable property or terroristproperty,

the police officer or an authorised officer of theFinancial Intelligence Mnit may maVe an appli-cation supported by information on oath to amagistrate or a Kudge for a search Larrant inrespect of that land or those premises.

(2) ehere an application is made under subsection(1) for a Larrant to search land or premises, the magistrate orKudge may, subKect to subsection (4) issue a Larrantauthorising a police officer or an authorised officer of theFinancial Intelligence Mnit (Lhether or not named in theLarrant), Lith such assistance and by such force as isnecessary and reasonable _

(a) to enter upon the land or in or upon anypremises and to search the land or premisesfor property of that Vinda and

(/) to seize property found in the course ofthe search that the police officer or the


Searchwarrant forlocation ofdocumentsrelevant tolocatingproperty.

authorized officer of the Financial Intelli-gence Mnit believes on reasonablegrounds to be property of that Vind.

(1) A magistrate or Kudge shall not issue a Larrantunder subsection (2) unless he is satisfied that _

(a) a production order has been given inrespect of the document and has not beencomplied Litha

(/) a production order in respect of the docu-ment Lould be unliVely to be effectivea

(c) the investigation for the purposes of Lhichthe search Larrant is being sought mightbe seriously preKudiced if the police officeror an authorised officer of the FinancialIntelligence Mnit does not gain immediateaccess to the document Lithout any noticeto any persona or

(d) the document involved cannot beidentified or described Lith sufficientparticularity to enable a production orderto be obtained.

(4) A Larrant issued under this section shallstate _

(a) the purpose for Lhich it is issued,including a reference to the nature of therelevant offencea

(/) a description of the Vind of documents orany tainted property, realizable propertyor terrorist property authorised to beseizeda


(c) a time at Lhich the Larrant ceases to be inforcea and

(d) Lhether entry is authorised to be made atany time of the day or night or duringspecified hours.

(5) If during the course of searching under a Larrantissued under this section, a police officer or an authorisedofficer of the Financial Intelligence Mnit finds _

(a) a document that the police officer or anauthorised officer of the Financial Intelli-gence Mnit believes on reasonablegrounds to relate to the relevant offenceor to another serious offencea or

(/) anything the police officer or an authorisedofficer of the Financial Intelligence Mnitbelieves on reasonable grounds Lill affordevidence as to the commission of a criminaloffence,

the police officer or an authorised officer of the FinancialIntelligence Mnit may seize that property or thing and theLarrant shall be deemed to authorise such seizure.

(>) The poLers contained in this section are Lith-out preKudice to the poLers of the FIM under the FinancialIntelligence Mnit Act.

2F. (1) A police officer or an authorized officer of theFinancial Intelligence Mnit may _

(a) search a person for tainted property orterrorist propertya

(/) enter upon land or upon or into premisesand search the land or premises for taintedproperty or terrorist propertya and


No. 35/2002.

Powers tosearch forand seizetaintedproperty orterroristproperty.

(c) in either case, seize any property found inthe course of the search that the policeofficer or the authorized officer believes,on reasonable grounds, to be taintedproperty or terrorist property, providedthat the search or seizure is made`

(i) Lith the consent of the person or theoccupier of the land or premises asthe case may bea or

(ii) under Larrant issued under section10.

(2) ehere a police officer or an authorized officerof the Financial Intelligence Mnit may search a person underthis section, he may also search _

(a) the clothing that is being Lorn by thepersona and

(/) any property in, or apparently in, thepersonRs immediate control.

10. (1) ehere a police officer or an authorized officerof the Financial Intelligence Mnit has reasonable grounds forsuspecting that there is, or may be Lithin the next 72 hours,tainted property or terrorist property of a particular Vind _

(a) on a persona

(/) in the clothing that is being Lorn by apersona

(c) otherLise in a personRs immediate controlaor

(d) upon land or upon or in any premises,

Searchwarrants inrelation totaintedproperty orterroristproperty.


the police officer or the authorized officer may lay before amagistrate an information setting out those grounds andapply for the issue of a Larrant to search the person, the landor the premises as the case may be, for property of that Vind.

(2) ehere an application is made under subsection(1) for a Larrant to search a person, land or premises, themagistrate may, subKect to subsection (4), issue a Larrantauthorizing a police officer or the authorized officer (Lhetheror not named in the Larrant) Lith such assistance and bysuch force as is necessary and reasonable _

(a) to search the person for property of thatVinda

(/) to enter upon the land or in or upon anypremises and to search the land or premisesfor property of that Vinda and

(c) to seize property found in the course ofthe search that the police officer or theauthorized officer believes on reasonablegrounds to be property of that Vind.

(1) A magistrate shall not issue a Larrant undersubsection (2) in respect of tainted property or terroristproperty unless the magistrate is satisfied that there arereasonable grounds to believe that a confiscation order maybe made under this Act in respect of the property.

(4) A Larrant issued under this section shallstate _

(a) the purpose for Lhich it is issuedincluding, in respect of tainted property, areference to the nature of the relevantoffencea

(/) a description of the Vind of propertyauthorised to be seizeda


(c) a time at Lhich the Larrant ceases to be inforcea and

(d) Lhether entry is authorised to be made atany time of the day or night or duringspecified hours.

(5) If during the course of searching under a Larrantissued under this section, a police officer or the authorizedofficer finds _

(a) property that the police officer or theauthorized officer believes on reasonablegrounds to be tainted property or terroristproperty of a type not specified in theLarrant, or tainted property in relation toanother serious offencea or

(/) anything the police officer or the autho-rized officer believes on reasonablegrounds Lill afford evidence as to thecommission of a serious offence,

the police officer or the authorized officer may seize thatproperty or thing and the Larrant shall be deemed to authorisesuch seizure.

11. ehere a foreign #tate requests assistance to locate orseize property suspected to be tainted property in respect ofan offence Lithin its Kurisdiction, the provisions of sections28, 2F and 10 shall apply Lith necessary modifications6

12. (1) A police officer or an authorised officer of theFinancial Intelligence Mnit may apply, e4 parte and inLriting to a Kudge or magistrate in chambers for an order (inthis section called a monitoring order) directing a reportingentity to give information to a police officer or an authorisedofficer of the Financial Intelligence Mnit. An applicationunder this subsection shall be supported by an affidavit.

Searchwarrants inrelation toforeignoffences.

Monitoringorders.


(2) A monitoring order shall _

(a) direct a reporting entity to discloseinformation obtained by the institutionabout transactions conducted through anaccount held by a particular person Liththe institutiona

(/) not have retrospective effecta and

(c) only apply for a period of a maximum of1 months from the date of the maVing ofthe order.

(1) A Kudge or magistrate shall not issue a monitor-ing order unless he is satisfied that there are reasonablegrounds for suspecting that the person in respect of Lhoseaccount the order is sought _

(a) has committed or Las involved in thecommission, or is about to commit or beinvolved in the commission of, a seriouscrimea or

(/) has benefited directly or indirectly, or isabout to benefit directly or indirectly fromthe commission of a serious crime.

(4) A monitoring order shall specify _

(a) the name or names in Lhich the accountis believed to be helda and

(/) the class of information that the institu-tion is required to give.

(5) ehere a reporting entity, Lhich has been givennotice of a monitoring order, VnoLingly _


(a) contravenes the order, or

(/) provides false or misleading informationin purported compliance Lith the order,

the reporting entity commits an offence against this sectionand shall be liable on conviction, in the case of a naturalperson, to a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars or toimprisonment for a term not exceeding tLo years or to bothsuch fine and imprisonmenta and in the case of a bodycorporate, to a fine not exceeding tLenty thousand dollars.

11. (1) A reporting entity that is, or has been, subKect toa monitoring order shall not disclose the existence or opera-tion of the order to any person except _

(a) an officer or agent of the reporting entityfor the purpose of ensuring complianceLith the ordera

(/) a legal adviser for the purpose of obtaininglegal advice or representation in respectof the ordera or

(c) a police officer or an authorised officer ofthe Financial Intelligence Mnit authorisedin Lriting to receive the information.

(2) A person described in subsection (1) shall notdisclose the existence or operation of a monitoring orderexcept to another person described in that subsection andmay do so only for the purposes of the performance of thepersonRs duties or functions.

(1) Nothing in this section prevents the disclosureof information concerning a monitoring order for the pur-poses of or in connection Lith legal proceedings or in thecourse of proceedings before a court, provided that nothingin this section shall be construed as requiring a legal adviser


Monitoringorders not tobe disclosed.

to disclose to any court the existence or operation of amonitoring order.

(4) A reporting entity or other person Lho contra-venes the provisions of subsections (1) or (2) above is guiltyof an offence and shall be liable on conviction, in the case ofa natural person, to a fine not exceeding five thousanddollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding tLoyears or to both such fine and term of imprisonment, and inthe case of a legal person or other entity, to a fine Lhich shallnot be less than tLenty thousand dollars but Lhich mayextend to fifty thousand dollars.

14. (1) eithout preKudice to the poLers of the Sinisterresponsible for telecommunications under the BelizeTelecommunications Act, a police officer or an authorizedofficer of the Financial Intelligence Mnit may, for the purposeof obtaining evidence of the commission of a moneylaundering offence, a terrorist financing offence or theproceeds of crime under this Act, apply, e9 parte, to a fudgeof the #upreme Court, for an interception of communicationsorder.

(2) A Kudge to Lhom an application is made undersubsection (1) may maVe an order _

(a) requiring a communications service pro-vider to intercept and retain a specifiedcommunication or communications of aspecified description received or trans-mitted, or about to be received or trans-mitted by that communications serviceprovidera

(/) authorising the police officer or theauthorized officer of the FinancialIntelligence Mnit, to enter any premisesand to install on such premises, any device


Power tointerceptcommunicationsand theadmissibilityof interceptedcommunicationsNo. 16/2002.

for the interception and retention of aspecified communication orcommunications of a specified descriptionand to remove and retain such device,

if the Kudge is satisfied that there are reasonablegrounds to believe that material informationrelating to _

(i) the commission of an offence underthis Act, or

(ii) the Lhereabouts of the personsuspected by the police officer orthe Financial Intelligence Mnit tohave committed the offence,

is contained in that communication or commu-nications of that description.

(1) Any information contained in a communica-tion _

(a) intercepted and retained pursuant to anorder under subsection (2)a

(/) intercepted and retained in a foreign statein accordance Lith the laL of that foreignstate and certified by a fudge of thatforeign state to have been so interceptedand retained,

shall be admissible in proceedings for a moneylaundering offence or terrorist financing offence orfor proceedings in relation to the forfeiture of theproceeds of crime or terrorist property under thisAct, as evidence of the truth of its contents notLith-standing the fact that it may contain hearsay.


15. (1) The Financial Intelligence Mnit, upon applica-tion to a fudge of the #upreme Court and satisfying him thata financial institution has failed Lithout reasonable excuseto comply in Lhole or in part Lith any obligation of report-ing entities under section 1> or subsection (4) of section 17,may obtain a mandatory inKunction against any or all of theofficers or employees of that financial institution on suchterms as the Court deems necessary to enforce complianceLith such obligation.

(2) In granting an inKunction pursuant to subsec-tion (1) of this section, the Court may order that should thefinancial institution or any officer or employee of thatinstitution fail Lithout reasonable excuse to comply Lith allor any of the provisions of that inKunction, such financialinstitution, officer or employee shall pay a financial penaltyin the sum and in the manner directed by the Court.

1>. A person Lho has been convicted of a serious crime(Lhether in Belize or elseLhere) or of an offence under thisAct, may not be eligible or licensed to carry on the businessof a financial institution.

17. A person Lho enters or leaves Belize Lith more thanten thousand dollars in cash or negotiable instruments (in Belizecurrency or equivalent foreign currency) shall maVe a declara-tion regarding the existence and amount of the cash or, as thecase may be, negotiable instruments being carried by thatperson, to an authorised officer of the Financial IntelligenceMnit or to any other person or authority designated by theFinancial Intelligence Mnit for that purpose, and every personLho fails to maVe such a declaration or maVes a false declara-tion commits an offence under this Act and shall be liable onsummary conviction to a fine not exceeding fifty thousanddollars.

18. (1) A police officer or a customs officer may seizeand, in accordance Lith this section, detain any currency Lhichis being imported into, or exported from Belize, if _

Othermeasures toavoid moneylaunderingand terroristfinancing.

Currencyreportingwhenentering orleavingBelize.

Seizure anddetention ofsuspiciousimports orexports ofcurrency.


Mandatoryinjunction toenforcecompliance.

(a) the amount is not less than ten thousanddollars in Belize currency (or equivalentforeign currency)a and

(/) he has reasonable grounds for suspectingthat it is _

(i) property derived from a seriouscrimea

(ii) intended by any person for use inthe commission of a serious crimea

(iii) involved in money laundering orthe financing of terrorisma or

(i8) being brought into or taVen out ofBelize Lithout maVing thedeclaration required under section17 of this Act or after maVing a falsedeclaration.

(2) A police officer or a customs officer may requestfurther information from the person carrying the cash ornegotiable instruments.

(1) Currency detained under subsection (1) shallnot be detained for more than 72 hours after seizure, exclud-ing LeeVends and public and banV holidays unless a magis-trate orders its continued detention for a period not exceed-ing 1 months from the date of seizure, upon being satisfiedthat _

(a) there are reasonable grounds for the sus-picion referred to in subsection (1)(b)aand

(/) its continued detention is Kustified Lhile _


(i) its origin or derivation is furtherinvestigateda or

(ii) consideration is given to institutingin Belize or elseLhere criminalproceedings against any person foran offence Lith Lhich the currencyis connected.

(4) A magistrate may subsequently order continueddetention of the currency if satisfied of the matters mentionedin subsection (1), but total period of detention shall notexceed 2 years from the date of the order made under thatsubsection.

(5) #ubKect to subsection (4), currency detainedunder this section may be released in Lhole or in part to theperson on Lhose behalf it Las imported or exported _

(a) by order of a magistrate that its continueddetention is no longer Kustified, uponapplication by or on behalf of that personand after considering any vieLs of theDirector of the Financial Intelligence Mnitto the contrarya or

(/) by an authorized officer, if satisfied thatits continued detention is no longer Kusti-fied.

(>) No currency detained under this section shallbe released Lhere _

(a) an application is made under this Act forthe purpose of _

(i) the forfeiture of the Lhole or anypart of the currencya or


(ii) its restraint pending determinationof its liability to forfeiturea or

(/) proceedings are instituted in Belize or else-Lhere against any person for an offence LithLhich the currency is connected,

unless and until the proceedings relating to the relevantapplication or the proceedings for the offence as the casemay have been concluded.

(7) On being satisfied that the property representsthe proceeds of crime or property to be used in the commissionof a serious crime, the magistrate shall maVe a forfeitureorder.

PART I5

FreezinZ anH ForfeitJre of AEEetE in Relation to'oney LaJnHerinZ anH TerroriEt FinancinZ

1F. (1) The Director of Public Prosecutions or theFinancial Intelligence Mnit may apply to the #upreme Courtfor a restraining order against any realisable property held bythe accused or specified realisable property held by a personother than the accused.

(2) An application for a restraining order may bemade e4 parte and shall be in Lriting and be accompanied byan affidavit stating _

(a) Lhere the accused has been convicted ofa serious crime, the serious crime forLhich he Las convicted, the date of theconviction, the court before Lhich theconviction Las obtained and Lhether anappeal has been lodged against the con-victiona

Applicationfor aRestrainingOrder.


(/) Lhere the accused has not been convictedof a serious crime, the crime for Lhich heis charged or about to be charged, or isbeing investigated and the grounds forbelieving that the defendant committedthe offencea

(c) a description of the property in respect ofLhich the restraining order is soughta

(d) the name and address of the person Lhois believed to be in possession of thepropertya

(e) the grounds for the belief that the propertyis tainted property in relation to the offenceor that the accused derived a benefitdirectly or indirectly from the commissionof the offencea

(f) Lhere the application seeVs a restrainingorder against property of a person otherthan the defendant, the grounds for thebelief that the property is tainted propertyin relation to the offence and is subKect tothe effective control of the accused or is agift caught by this Acta and

(;) the grounds for the belief that a forfeitureorder or a pecuniary penalty order may beor is liVely to be made under this part inrespect of the property.

40. (1) #ubKect to this section, Lhere the Director ofPublic Prosecutions or the Financial Intelligence Mnit appliesto the Court for a restraining order against property and theCourt is satisfied that _

Restrainingorders.


(a) the accused has been convicted of a seriouscrime or has been charged or is about tobe charged Lith or is being investigatedfor a serious crimea

(/) Lhere the accused has not been convictedof a serious crime, there is reasonablecause to believe that the property is taintedproperty in relation to an offence or thatthe accused derived a benefit directly orindirectly from the commission of theoffencea

(c) Lhere the application seeVs a restrainingorder against property of a person otherthan the accused, there are reasonablegrounds for believing that the property istainted property in relation to an offenceand that the property is subKect to theeffective control of the accused or isproperty held by the defendant or a giftcaught by this Acta and

(d) there are reasonable grounds for believingthat a forfeiture order or a pecuniarypenalty order may be or is liVely to bemade under this part in respect of theproperty,

the Court may maVe an order _

(i) prohibiting the defendant or any personfrom disposing of, or otherLise dealingLith, the property or such part thereof orinterest therein as is specified in the order,except in such manner as may be speci-fied in the ordera and


(ii) at the request of the Director of PublicProsecutions or the Financial IntelligenceMnit, Lhere the Court is satisfied that thecircumstances so require _

(a) directing the Pegistrar-General orsuch other person as the Court mayappoint to taVe custody of theproperty or such part thereof as isspecified in the order and to manageor otherLise deal Lith all or anypart of the property in accordanceLith the directions of the Courta and

(/) requiring any person havingpossession of the property to givepossession thereof to the Pegistrar-General or to the person appointedunder sub-paragraph (i) to taVecustody and control of the property.

(2) An order under subsection (1) may be madesubKect to such conditions as the Court thinVs fit and, Lithoutlimiting the generality of this subsection, may maVe provisionfor meeting out of the property or a specified part of theproperty, any or all of the folloLing`

(a) the personRs reasonable living expenses(including the reasonable living expensesof the personRs dependants, if any) andreasonable business expensesa

(/) the personRs reasonable expenses in de-fending the criminal charge and any pro-ceedings under this Parta and

(c) a specified debt incurred by the person ingood faith.


(1) ehere the Pegistrar-General or other personappointed under subsection (1) (ii) (a) is given a direction inrelation to any property, he may apply to the Court fordirections on any question respecting the management orpreservation of the property under his control.

(4) #ubKect to section 42, an application shall beserved on all persons interested in the application or such ofthem as the Court thinVs expedient and all such persons shallhave the right to appear at the hearing and be heard.

(5) ehen the application is made on the basis thata person is being investigated or about to be charged, anyorder made by the Court shall lapse if the person is notcharged _

(a) Lhere the offence is an offence againstthe laLs of Belize, Lithin 28 daysa or

(/) Lhere the offence is an offence againstthe laLs of a foreign #tate, Lithin threemonths.

41. (1) Before maVing an order under section 40, theCourt may require the Government to give such undertaVingsas the Court considers appropriate Lith respect to thepayment of damages or costs, or both, in relation to themaVing and execution of the order.

(2) For the purposes of this section, the Director ofPublic Prosecutions or the Financial Intelligence Mnit maygive such undertaVings Lith respect to the payment ofdamages or costs or both as are required by the Court.

42. Before maVing a restraining order the Court mayrequire notice to be given to, and may hear, any person Lho,in the opinion of the Court, appears to have an interest in theproperty, unless the Court is of the opinion that giving suchnotice before maVing the order Lould result in thedisappearance, dissipation or reduction in value of the property.

Undertakingby theGovernment.


Notice ofapplicationforrestrainingorder.

41. A copy of a restraining order shall be served on aperson affected by the order in such manner as the Courtdirects or as may be prescribed by rules of court.

44. (1) A copy of a restraining order Lhich affects landin Belize shall be registered Lith the Pegistrar of [ands.

(2) A restraining order is of no effect Lith respectto registered land unless it is registered as a caution under thePegistered [and Act.

(1) ehere particulars of a restraining order areregistered under the Pegistered [and Act as a caution, aperson Lho subsequently deals Lith the property shall, forthe purposes of section 111 of that Act be deemed to havenotice of the order at the time of the dealing.

45. (1) A person Lho VnoLingly contravenes a re-straining order by disposing of or otherLise dealing Lithproperty that is subKect to the restraining order commits aserious crime punishable upon conviction by _

(a) in the case of a natural person, a fine ofnot less than tLo thousand dollars butLhich may extend to fifty thousand dollarsor imprisonment for a period notexceeding tLo years or botha

(/) in the case of a legal person or otherentity, a fine of not less than fifty thousanddollars but Lhich may extend to onehundred thousand dollars.

(2) ehere a restraining order is made againstproperty and the property is disposed of, or otherLise dealtLith, in contravention of the restraining order, and thedisposition or dealing Las not for sufficient consideration ornot in favour of a person Lho acted in good faith and Lithout

Contraventionof restrainingorder.


Service ofrestrainingorder.

Registrationof restrainingorder.

Cap. 194.

Cap. 194.

notice, the Director of Public Prosecutions or the FinancialIntelligence Mnit may apply to the Court that made therestraining order for an order that the disposition or dealingbe set aside.

(1) ehere the Director of Public Prosecutions orthe Financial Intelligence Mnit maVes an application undersubsection (2) in relation to a disposition or dealing, theCourt may _

(a) set aside the disposition or dealing asfrom the day on Lhich the disposition ordealing tooV placea or

(/) set aside the disposition or dealing asfrom the day of the order under this sub-section and declare the respective rightsof any persons Lho acquired interests inthe property on, or after the day on Lhichthe disposition or dealing tooV place, andbefore the day of the order made underthis subsection.

4>. A restraining order remains in force until _

(a) it is discharged, revoVed or varieda or

(/) a forfeiture order or a pecuniary penaltyorder, as the case may be, is made inrespect of property Lhich is the subKect ofthe order.

47. (1) A person Lho has an interest in property inrespect of Lhich a restraining order Las made may, at anytime, apply to the Court for an order under subsection (4).

(2) An application under subsection (1) shall notbe heard by the Court unless the applicant has given to theDirector of Public Prosecutions or the Financial IntelligenceMnit at least 1 clear days notice in Lriting of the application.

Duration ofrestrainingorder.

Review ofrestrainingorder.


(1) The Court may require notice of the applicationto be given to, and may hear, any person Lho in the opinionof the Court appears to have an interest in the property.

(4) On an application under subsection (1), theCourt may revoVe or vary the order or maVe the order subKectto such conditions as the Court thinVs fit. For the purposesof this subsection the Court may _

(a) require the applicant to enter intorecognisancesa

(/) vary the order to permit the payment ofreasonable living expenses of the appli-cant, including his dependants, if any,and reasonable legal or business expensesof the applicant.

(5) An order under subsection (4) may only bemade if the Court is satisfied that _

(a) the applicant is the laLful oLner of theproperty or is entitled to laLful possessionthereof and appears to be innocent of anycomplicity in the commission of a seriouscrime or of any collusion in relation tosuch offencea and

(/) the property Lill no longer be required forthe purposes of any investigation or asevidence in any proceedings.

48. (1) The Director of Public Prosecutions or theFinancial Intelligence Mnit may apply to the #upreme Courtthat made a restraining order for an extension of the periodof the operation of the order.

(2) ehere the Director of Public Prosecutions orthe Financial Intelligence Mnit maVes an application under

Extension ofrestrainingorder.


subsection (1), the Court may extend the operation of arestraining order for a specified period if it is satisfied that aforfeiture order may be made in respect of the property orpart thereof or that a pecuniary penalty order may be madeagainst the person.

4F. (1) ehere, upon application by the Director ofPublic Prosecutions or the Financial Intelligence Mnit, theCourt is satisfied that a property is tainted property in respectof a serious crime of Lhich a person has been convicted, theCourt may order that specified property to be forfeited.

(2) In determining Lhether property is taintedproperty the Court may infer, in the absence of evidence tothe contrary _

(a) that the property Las used in or inconnection Lith the commission of aserious crime if it Las in the personRspossession at the time of, or immediatelyafter the commission of the serious crimefor Lhich the person Las convicteda

(/) that the property Las derived, obtained orrealized as a result of the commission ofthe serious crime if it Las acquired by theperson before, during or Lithin six yearsafter the period of the commission of theserious crime of Lhich the person Lasconvicted, and the Court is satisfied thatthe income of that person from sourcesunrelated to criminal activity of that personcannot reasonably account for theacquisition of that property.

(1) ehere the Court orders that property, otherthan money, be forfeited, the Court shall specify in the orderthe amount that it considers to be the value of the property atthe time Lhen the order is made.


Forfeitureorder onconviction.

(4) In considering Lhether a forfeiture ordershould be made under subsection (1) the Court shall haveregard to _

(a) the rights and interests, if any, of thirdparties in the propertya

(/) the gravity of the serious crime concerneda

(c) any hardship that may reasonably beexpected to be caused to any person bythe operation of the ordera and

(d) the use that is ordinarily made ofthe property, or the use to whichthe property was intended to beput.

(5) ehere the Court maVes a forfeiture order, theCourt may give such directions as are necessary or convenientfor giving effect to the order.

50. (1) #ubKect to subsection (2), Lhere a Court maVesa forfeiture order against any property, the property vestsabsolutely in the Government by virtue of the order.

(2) ehere property ordered to be confiscated island _

(a) the property vests in the Government inequity but does not vest in the Govern-ment at laL until the applicable registra-tion requirements under the Pegistered[ands Act or the [aL of Property Act, asappropriate, have been complied Litha

(/) the Government is entitled to be regis-tered as oLner of the propertya


Effect offorfeitureorder onconviction.

Cap. 194.

Cap. 190.

(c) the Director of Public Prosecutions andthe Financial Intelligence Mnit have poLeron behalf of the Government to do orauthorise the doing of anything necessaryor convenient to obtain the registration ofthe Government as oLner, including theexecution of any instrument to be executedby a person transferring an interest inproperty of that Vind.

(1) ehere the Court maVes a forfeiture order againstproperty _

(a) the property shall not, except Lith theleave of the Court and in accordance Lithany directions of the Court, be disposedof, or otherLise dealt Lith, by or onbehalf of the Government before therelevant appeal datea and

(/) if after the relevant appeal date, the orderhas not been discharged, the propertymay be disposed of and the proceedsapplied or otherLise dealt Lith in accor-dance Lith the directions of the Sinisterof Finance.

(4) In this section -

UreleCant appeal HateV used in relation to aforfeiture order made in consequence of apersonRs conviction of a serious crime means _

(a) the date on Lhich the period alloLed byrules of court for the lodging of an appealagainst a personRs conviction or for thelodging of an appeal against the maVingof a forfeiture order expires Lithout anappeal having been lodged, Lhichever isthe latera or


(/) Lhere an appeal against a personRs con-viction or against the maVing of a forfei-ture order is lodged, the date on Lhich theappeal lapses in accordance Lith the rulesof court or is finally determined, Lhich-ever is the later.

51. The Court may _

(a) before maVing a forfeiture ordera and

(/) in the case of property in respect of Lhicha restraining order Las made and Lherethe order Las duly served -

set aside any conveyance or transfer of theproperty that occurred after the seizure of theproperty or the service of the restraining order,unless the conveyance or transfer Las made forvaluable consideration to a person acting ingood faith and Lithout notice.

52. (1) ehere an application is made for a forfeitureorder against property, a person Lho claims an interest in theproperty may apply to the Court, before the forfeiture orderis made, for an order under subsection (2).

(2) If a person applies to the Court for an orderunder this section in respect of property and the Court issatisfied on a balance of probabilities _

(a) that he Las not in any Lay involved in thecommission of the serious crimea and

(/) Lhere he acquired the interest during orafter the commission of the serious crime,that he acquired the interest _

(i) for sufficient considerationa and

Protection ofthird parties.


Voidabletransfers

(ii) Lithout VnoLing, and incircumstance such as not to arouse areasonable suspicion that theproperty Las, at the time he acquiredit, property that Las tainted property,

the Court shall maVe an order declaringthat his interest shall not be affected bythe forfeiture order.

(1) #ubKect to subsection (4), Lhere a forfeitureorder has already been made directing the forfeiture ofproperty, a person Lho claims an interest in the propertymay, before the end of the period of > months commencingon the day on Lhich the forfeiture order is made, apply underthis subsection to the Court for an order under subsection(2).

(4) A person Lho _

(a) had VnoLledge of the application for theforfeiture order before the order Las madeaor

(/) appeared at the hearing of that applica-tion,

shall not be permitted to maVe an applicationunder subsection (1) except Lith leave of theCourt.

(5) A person Lho maVes an application undersubsection (1) or (1) shall give no less than 14 days Lrittennotice of the maVing of the application to the Director ofPublic Prosecutions or the Financial Intelligence Mnit Lhoshall be a party to any proceedings in the application.

(>) An applicant or the Director of Public Prosecu-tions or the Financial Intelligence Mnit, as the case may be,


in accordance Lith the rules of court, may appeal against anorder made under subsection (2).

(7) Any person appointed by the Court as a custo-dian or receiver for property shall, on application by anyperson Lho has obtained an order under subsection (2), andLhere the period alloLed by the rules of court Lith respectto the maVing of appeals has expired and any appeal fromthat order has been determined _

(a) direct that the property or part thereof toLhich the interest of the applicant relates,be returned to the applicanta or

(/) direct that an amount equal to the value ofthe interest of the applicant, as declared inthe order, be paid to the applicant.

51. (1) ehere the Court maVes a forfeiture order againstproperty in reliance on a personRs conviction of a seriouscrime and the conviction is subsequently quashed, the quash-ing of the conviction discharges the order.

(2) ehere a forfeiture order against property isdischarged as provided for in subsection (1), or by the Courthearing an appeal against the maVing of the order, anyperson Lho claims to have an interest in the propertyimmediately before the maVing of the forfeiture order mayapply to the Pegistrar-General or the Pegistrar of [ands, asappropriate, in Lriting for the transfer of the interest to theperson.

(1) On receipt of an application under subsection(2) the Pegistrar-General or the Pegistrar of [ands, asappropriate, shall _

(a) if the interest is vested in the Govern-ment, give directions that the property or

Discharge offorfeitureorder onappeal andquashing ofconviction.


part thereof to Lhich the interest of theapplicant relates be transferred to thatpersona or

(/) in any other case, direct that there be paidto that person an amount equal to theinterest as at the time the order is made.

(4) In the exercise of his poLers under this sectionand section 50, the Pegistrar-General or the Pegistrar of[ands, as applicable, shall have the poLer to do or authorizethe doing of anything necessary or convenient to effect thetransfer or return of the property, including the execution ofany instrument and the maVing of any application for theregistration of an interest in the property on any appropriateregister.

54. ehere the court is satisfied that a forfeiture ordershould be made in respect of the property of a personconvicted of a serious crime but that the property or any partthereof or interest therein cannot be made subKect to such anorder and, in particular _

(a) cannot, on the exercise of due diligence, belocateda

(/) has been transferred to a third party incircumstances Lhich do not give rise to areasonable inference that the title or interestLas transferred for the purpose of avoiding theforfeiture of the propertya

(c) is located outside Belizea

(d) has been substantially diminished in value orrendered Lorthlessa or

(e) has been commingled Lith other property thatcannot be divided Lithout difficulty,

Paymentinstead of aforfeitureorder.


the Court may, instead of ordering the property orpart thereof or interest therein to be forfeited, orderthe person to pay to the Government an amount equalto the value of the property, part or interest.

55. ehere the court orders a person to pay an amountunder section 54, that amount shall be treated as if it Lere afine imposed upon him in respect of a conviction for aserious crime, and the Court shall _

(a) notLithstanding any other laL, impose indefault of the payment of that amount, a term ofimprisonment _

(i) of one year, Lhere the amount does notexceed one thousand dollarsa

(ii) of tLo years, Lhere the amount exceedsone thousand dollars but does not exceedthree thousand dollarsa

(iii) of three years, Lhere the amount exceedsthree thousand dollarsa

(/) direct that the term of imprisonment imposedpursuant to subsection (a) be served consecu-tively to any other form of imprisonment im-posed on that person, Lhich that person is thenservinga

(c) direct that the rJleE regarding the remission ofsentences of prisoners serving a term ofimprisonment or the rules regarding the releaseon parole shall not apply in relation to a term ofimprisonment, imposed on a person pursuant toparagraph (a).


Application ofprocedure forenforcingfines.

5>. (1) The Director of Public Prosecutions or theFinancial Intelligence Mnit may apply to the court for aforfeiture order in respect of tainted property if the accusedhas died or absconded. If the court is satisfied that _

(a) any property is tainted property in respectof the serious crimea

(/) proceedings in respect of a serious crimecommitted in relation to that propertyLere commenceda and

(c) the accused charged Lith the offencereferred to in paragraph (b) has died orabsconded,

the Court may order that the property or suchproperty as is specified by the Court in theorder be forfeited.

(2) For purposes of subsection (1), sections 4F, 50,51 and 52 shall apply Lith such modifications as are necessaryto give effect to this section.

(1) For the purposes of subsection (1), a person isdeemed to have absconded if reasonable attempts to arrestthe person pursuant to the Larrant have been unsuccessfulduring the period of six months commencing on the day theLarrant Las issued, and the person shall be deemed to haveso absconded on the last day of that period.

57. (1) #ubKect to this section, Lhere the Director ofPublic Prosecutions or the Financial Intelligence Mnit appliesto the Court for a pecuniary penalty order against a personin respect of that personRs offence, the Court shall, if it issatisfied that the person has benefited from that offence,order him to pay to the Government an amount equal to the


Pecuniarypenalty orderon conviction.

Forfeiturewhere aperson dies orabsconds.

value of his benefit from the offence or such lesser amountas the Court certifies in accordance Lith section >0 (2) to bethe amount that might be realised at the time the pecuniarypenalty order is made.

(2) The Court shall assess the value of the benefitsderived by a person from the commission of an offence inaccordance Lith sections 58, 5F, >0, and >1.

(1) The Court shall not maVe a pecuniary penaltyorder under this section _

(a) until the period alloLed by the rules ofcourt for the lodging of an appeal againstconviction has expired Lithout suchappeal having been lodgeda or

(/) Lhere an appeal against conviction hasbeen lodged, until the appeal lapses inaccordance Lith the rules of court or isfinally determined, Lhichever is the laterdate.

58. (1) ehere a person obtains property as the resultof, or in connection Lith the commission of a serious crime,his benefit is the value of the property so obtained.

(2) ehere a person derived an advantage as aresult of or in connection Lith the commission of a seriouscrime, his advantage shall be deemed to be a sum of moneyequal to the value of the advantage so derived.

(1) The Court, in determining Lhether a personhas benefited from the commission of a serious crime or fromthe offence taVen together Lith other serious crimes shall,unless the contrary is proved, deem _

Rules fordeterminingbenefit andassessingvalue.


(a) all property appearing to the Court to beheld by the person on the day on Lhichthe application is madea and

(/) all property appearing to the Court to beheld by the person at any time _

(i) Lithin the period betLeen the daythe serious crime, or the earliestserious crime, Las committed andthe day on Lhich the application ismadea or

(ii) Lithin the period of > yearsimmediately before the day on Lhichthe application is made, Lhicheveris the longer,

to be property that came into thepossession or under the control of theperson by the reason of the commissionof that serious crime or those seriouscrimes for Lhich the person Lasconvicteda

(c) any expenditure by the person since thebeginning of that period to be expendi-ture met out of payments received by himas a result of, or in connection Lith, thecommission of that serious crime or thoseserious crimesa and

(d) any property received or deemed to havebeen received by the person at any time asa result of, or in connection Lith thecommission by him of that serious crimeor those serious crimes as property re-ceived by him free of any interest therein.


(4) ehere a pecuniary penalty order has beenpreviously made against a person, in assessing the value ofany benefit derived by him from the commission of theserious crime, the Court shall leave out of account any of thebenefits that are shoLn to the Court to have been taVen intoaccount in determining the amount to be recovered underthat order.

(5) If evidence is given at the hearing of the appli-cation that the value of the personRs property at any time afterthe commission of the serious crime exceeded the value ofthe personRs property before the commission of the offence,then the Court shall, subKect to subsection (>), treat the valueof the benefit as being not less than the amount of that excess.

(>) If, after evidence of the Vind referred to insubsection (5) is given, the person satisfies the court that theLhole or part of the excess Las due to causes unrelated to thecommission of the serious crime, subsection (5) does notapply to the excess or, as the case may be, that part.

5F. (1) ehere _

(a) a person has been convicted of a seriouscrime and the Director of Public Prosecu-tions or the Financial Intelligence Mnittenders to the court a statement as to anymatters relevant to _

(i) determining Lhether the person hasbenefited from the offence or fromany other serious crime of Lhich heis convicted in the same proceedingsor Lhich is taVen into account indetermining his sentencea or

(ii) an assessment of the value of thepersonRs benefit from the offence orany other serious crime of Lhich he

Statementsrelating tobenefit fromcommissionof seriouscrimes.


is convicted in the same proceedingsor Lhich is taVen into accounta and

(/) the person accepts to any extent an allega-tion in the statement,

the court may, for the purposes of so determiningor maVing that assessment, treat his acceptanceas conclusive of the matters to Lhich it relates.

(2) ehere _

(a) a statement is tendered under subsection(1)(a)a and

(/) the court is satisfied that a copy of thatstatement has been served on the person,

the court may require the person to indicate toLhat extent he accepts each allegation in thestatement and so far as he does not accept anyallegation, to indicate any matters he proposesto rely on.

(1) ehere the person fails in any respect to complyLith a requirement under subsection (2), he may be treatedfor the purposes of this section as having accepted everyallegation in the statement other than _

(a) an allegation in respect of Lhich hecomplied Lith the requirementa and

(/) an allegation that he has benefited fromthe serious crime or that any property oradvantage Las obtained by him as a resultof or in connection Lith the commissionof the offence.


(4) ehere _

(a) the person tenders to the court a statementas to any matters relevant to determiningthe amount that might be realised at thetime the pecuniary penalty order is madeaand

(/) the Director of Public Prosecutions or theFinancial Intelligence Mnit accepts to anyextent any allegation in the statement,

the court may, for the purposes of that determi-nation, treat the acceptance of the Director ofPublic Prosecutions or the Financial Intelli-gence Mnit, as the case may be, as conclusive ofthe matters to Lhich it relates.

(5) An allegation may be accepted or a matterindicated for the purposes of this section either _

(a) orally before the courta or

(/) in Lriting in accordance Lith rules ofcourt.

(>) An acceptance by a person under this sectionthat he received any benefits from the commission of aserious crime is admissible in any proceedings for any crime.

>0. (1) #ubKect to subsection (2), the amount to berecovered in a personRs case under a pecuniary penalty ordershall be the amount Lhich the court assesses to be the valueof that personRs benefit from the serious crime or if more thanone, all the offences in respect of Lhich the order may bemade.

Amountrecoveredunderpecuniarypenalty order.



Variation ofpecuniarypenalty order.

(2) ehere the court is satisfied as to any matterrelevant for determining the amount Lhich might be realisedat the time the pecuniary penalty order is made, Lhether byacceptance under section 5F or otherLise, the court mayissue a certificate giving its opinion as to the matters con-cerned, and shall do so if satisfied that the amount that mightbe realised at the time the pecuniary penalty order is made isless than the amount it assesses to be the value of the personRsbenefit from the offence, or if more than one, all the offencesin respect of Lhich the pecuniary penalty order may bemade.

>1. ehere _

(a) the court maVes a pecuniary penalty orderagainst a person in relation to a seriouscrimea and

(/) in calculating the amount of the pecuniarypenalty order, the court tooV into accounta forfeiture order of the property or aproposed forfeiture order in respect of thepropertya and

(c) an appeal against forfeiture or a forfeitureorder is alloLed or the proceedings fromthe proposed forfeiture order terminateLithout the proposed forfeiture orderbeing madea

the Director of Public Prosecutions or the FinancialIntelligence Mnit may apply to the court for a variationof the pecuniary penalty order to increase the amountof the order by the value of the property not soforfeited and the court may, if it considers itappropriate to do so, vary the order accordingly.

>2. (1) In assessing the value of benefits derived by aperson from the commission of a serious crime, the court

Lifting thecorporate veil.

may treat as property of the person any property that, in theopinion of the court, is subKect to the effective control of theperson Lhether or not he has _

(a) any legal or equitable interest in thepropertya or

(/) any right, poLer or privilege in connec-tion Lith the property.

(2) eithout preKudice to the generality of subsec-tion (1), the court may have regard to _

(a) shareholdings in, debentures over ordirectorships in any company that has aninterest, Lhether direct or indirect, in theproperty, and for this purpose the courtmay order the investigation and inspectionof the booVs of a named companya

(/) any trust that has any relationship to thepropertya

(c) any relationship Lhatsoever betLeen thepersons having an interest in the propertyor in companies of the Vind referred to inparagraph (a) or trust of the Vind referredto in paragraph (/), and any other per-sons.

(1) ehere the court, for the purposes of maVing apecuniary order against a person, treats particular propertyas the personRs property pursuant to subsection (1), the courtmay, on application by the Director of Public Prosecutionsor the Financial Intelligence Mnit maVe an order declaringthat the property is available to satisfy the order.

(4) ehere the court declares that property is avail-able to satisfy a pecuniary penalty order _


(a) the order may be enforced against theproperty as if the property Lere theproperty of the person against Lhom theorder is madea and

(/) a restraining order may be made in respectof the property as if the property Lereproperty of the person against Lhom theorder is made.

(5) ehere the Director of Public Prosecutions orthe Financial Intelligence Mnit maVes an application for anorder under subsection (1) that property is available tosatisfy a pecuniary penalty order against a person _

(a) the Director of Public Prosecutions or theFinancial Intelligence Mnit, as the casemay be, shall give Lritten notice of theapplication to the person and to any per-son Lho the Director of Public Prosecu-tions or the Financial Intelligence Mnithas reason to believe may have an interestin the propertya and

(/) the person and any person Lho claims aninterest in the property may appear andadduce evidence at the hearing.

>1. ehere the court orders a person to pay an amountunder a pecuniary penalty order, the provisions of section 55shall apply Lith such modifications as the court may deter-mine for the purpose of empoLering the court to impose aterm of imprisonment on a person in default of complianceby him Lith a pecuniary penalty order.

>4. A pecuniary penalty order is discharged _

Enforcementof pecuniarypenalty order.

Discharge ofpecuniarypenalty order.


(a) if the conviction of the serious crime orcrimes in reliance on Lhich the order Lasmade is or is deemed to be quashed andno conviction for the crime or crimes issubstituteda

(/) if the order is quashed on appeala or

(c) on the satisfaction of the order by pay-ment of the amount due under the order.

>5. (1) The measures and sanctions referred to in sec-tions 1F and 4F shall apply Lithout preKudice to the rights ofbona fide third parties.

(2) Proper notifications shall be made so that allthose claiming legitimate legal interest in property, proceedsor instrumentalities may appear in support of their claims.

(1) A third partyRs lacV of good faith may beinferred, at the discretion of the court or other competentauthority, from the obKective circumstances of the case.

(4) The court or other competent authority shallreturn the property, proceeds or instrumentalities to theclaimant, Lhen it has been demonstrated to its satisfactionthat`-

(a) the claimant has a legitimate legal interestin the property, proceeds or instrumen-talitiesa

(/) no participation, collusion or involve-ment Lith respect to the money launder-ing offence or the terrorist financing of-fence Lhich is the subKect of the proceed-ings can be imputed to the claimanta

Rights ofbona fide thirdparties.


(c) the claimant lacVed VnoLledge and Lasnot intentionally ignorant of the illegaluse of the property, proceeds or instru-mentalities or if he had VnoLledge, didnot freely consent to its illegal usea

(d) the claimant did not acquire any right inthe property, proceeds or instrumentalitiesfrom a person proceeded against undercircumstances that give rise to a reasonableinference that any right Las transferredfor the purpose of avoiding the eventualsubsequent forfeiture of the property,proceeds or instrumentalities, and

3e6 the claimant did all that could reasonablybe expected to prevent the illegal use ofthe property, proceeds or instrumentali-ties.

>>. No liability shall be incurred by, and no suit, legalproceedings or other action, administrative or otherLise,shall be commenced, brought or instituted against any super-visory authority, the Director of Public Prosecutions, theDirector, Financial Intelligence Mnit, the Sinister or any oftheir agents for any act done or omitted to be done in goodfaith`

(a) in the performance or intended perfor-mance of any function or dutya or

(/) in the exercise or intended exercise of anypoLer,

under this Act or Pegulations made hereunder.

>7. (1) ehere the Financial Intelligence Mnit hasreasonable grounds to suspect that any cash _

Immunityfrom action.

Seizure anddetention ofterrorist cash.


(a) is intended to be used for the purposes ofterrorisma

(/) belongs to, or is held on trust for, a terroristorganisationa or

(c) is or represents property obtained throughacts of terrorism,

it may seize the cash.

(2) The Financial Intelligence Mnit may seize thecash, even if it reasonably suspects part only of the cash tobe terrorist cash, Lhere it is not reasonably practicable toseize that part only of the cash.

(1) The Financial Intelligence Mnit may exerciseits poLers under subsection (1), Lhether or not any proceed-ings have been brought for an offence in connection Lith theterrorist cash.

(4) The Financial Intelligence Mnit shall, as soonas is reasonably practicable, apply to a fudge in Chambersfor a detention order Lith respect to the cash seized undersubsection (1).

(5) The fudge in Chambers shall not maVe an orderfor detention of the cash unless he is satisfied that there arereasonable grounds for suspecting that the cash _

(a) is intended to be used for the purposes ofterrorisma

(/) consists of resources of a terroristorganisationa or

(c) is or represents property obtained throughterrorists activities.


(>) #ubKect to subsection (8), any order made un-der subsection (5) shall remain valid for a period of F0 days,and may be reneLed for further periods of F0 days by thefudge in Chambers, until production of the cash before thecourt in proceedings against any person for an offence LithLhich the cash is connected.

(7) Any cash detained under this section shall bedeposited by the Financial Intelligence Mnit in an interest-bearing account.

(8) The cash, Lith the interest, may be released byorder of the fudge in Chambers _

(a) Lhere the conditions under subsection(5) are no longer meta or

(/) Lhere no proceedings are brought inBelize or elseLhere against any personfor an offence relating to the detainedcash.

(F) For the purposes of this section, bcashc means _

(a) coins and notes in any currencya

(/) postal ordersa

(c) travellerRs chequesa

(d) banVerRs draftsa

(e) bearer bonds and bearer sharesa or

(f) such other monetary instruments as theSinister may, by notice published in theGazette, specify.


>8. (1) Any person Lho by any means, directly orindirectly, Lilfully provides or collects funds or otherproperty, Lith the intention that they should be used or in theVnoLledge that they are to be used in Lhole or in part`

(a) to commit an act or omission, Lhether inBelize or outside Belize, Lhich consti-tutes an offence Lithin the scope of acounter terrorism Convention listed inthe Fourth #chedule to this Acta or

(/) to commit any act intended to cause thedeath of or serious bodily inKury to anycivilian or any other person not taVing anactive part in the hostilities in a situationof armed conflict Lhen the purpose ofsuch act, by its nature and context, is tointimidate a population or compel agovernment or international organizationto perform or refrain from performing anact of any Vinda

(c) by a terrorista or

(d) by a terrorist organization,

commits an offence and shall be liable to thesame penalties as prescribed in section 5 of thisAct for the offence of terrorism.

(2) Ivery person Lho _

(a) organises or directs others to commita or

(/) attempts to commita or

(c) conspires to commita or


Terroristfinancing.

FourthSchedule.

(d) participates as an accomplice to a personcommitting, or attempting to commita or

(e) aids, abets, facilitates, counsels or pro-cures the commission of,

an offence under subsection (1) commits anoffence under this Act and shall be liable to thesame penalties as prescribed in subsection (1)of this section.

(1) An offence under subsection (1) is committedirrespective of the occurrence of a terrorist act or Lhether thefunds have been used to commit such an act.

(4) The Sinister may, from time to time by orderpublished in the Gazette, publish a list of terrorists andterrorist organisations but until such time as an Order is madeunder this section, the list of terrorists and terrorist organiza-tions contained in the #econd #chedule to the #ecurityCouncil Pesolution 1>17 (2005) (Inforcement) Order, 200>,as amended, shall have effect for the purposes of this Act.

>F. Any person Lho _

(a) solicits, receives, provides or possessesmoney or other propertya or

(/) enters into, or becomes concerned in, anarrangement as a result of Lhich moneyor other property is made available or is tobe made available,

for the purposes of terrorism, or for a terroristorganisation, commits an offence and is liableon conviction to the same penalties as prescribedin subsection (1) of section >8.

S.I. 32/2006.

Relatedoffences inrelation toterroristfinancing.


70. (1) Any person Lho enters into, or becomes con-cerned in, an arrangement Lhich facilitates the retention orcontrol by, or on behalf of, another person, of terroristproperty, in any manner, including _

(a) concealmenta

(/) removal from the Kurisdictiona or

(c) transfer to any other person,

commits an offence and is liable on convictionto the same penalties as prescribed in subsec-tion (1) of section >8.

(2) It shall be a defence for a person charged undersubsection (1) to prove that he did not VnoL and had noreasonable cause to suspect that the arrangement is related toterrorist property.

71. (1) ehere the Financial Intelligence Mnit hasreason to believe or suspects that a reporting entity holds anaccount or property on behalf of a terrorist or terroristorganisation, it shall issue a Lritten directive to the reportingentity in Belize requiring it to restrain or freeze any accountor other property held by that reporting entity on behalf ofterrorist or terrorist organization and the reporting entityshall comply Lith such a directive.

(2) #ubKect to subsection (1), a directive given bythe Financial Intelligence Mnit pursuant to subsection (1)shall be effective for 1 months unless earlier revoVed by theFinancial Intelligence Mnit.

(1) The #upreme Court may, upon the applicationof the Director of Public Prosecutions or the FinancialIntelligence Mnit, order the extension of a restraining or afreeze direction issued pursuant to subsection (1), if the

Directives.


Dealing interroristproperty.

Court is satisfied that the account or other property is oLnedby or on behalf of a terrorist or terrorist organization.

(4) The Financial Intelligence Mnit may revoVeany directive issued under subsection (1) and shall notify thereporting entities accordingly.

(5) ehere the Financial Intelligence Mnit decidesto revoVe a directive Lhich has been extended by the#upreme Court under subsection (1), it shall notify the#upreme Court accordingly and the #upreme Court shallrevoVe the extension order.

(>) Pevocation of a directive or extension ordershall not affect the validity of any action taVen on the basisof the direction or the order prior to revocation.

(7) A person affected by a directive issued undersubsection (1) may apply to the #upreme Court for a revo-cation of the direction in relation to him.

(8) The #upreme Court shall revoVe the directivein relation to the applicant under subsection (7) if satisfiedthat the account or other property or the personRs interest init is not oLned by or on behalf of a terrorist or terroristorganisation.

(F) It shall be a defence against any action broughtagainst a supervisory authority or any person Lho compliesLith a direction issued under subsection (1) that the issuanceof the direction or the compliance thereLith Las in accor-dance Lith the provisions of this section.

(10) No person shall be held liable in any court foror Lith respect to anything done or omitted to be done ingood faith in accordance Lith this section.

72. The Director of Public Prosecutions or the FinancialIntelligence Mnit may apply to the #upreme Court for aforfeiture order against terrorist property.

Applicationfor forfeitureorder.


71. ehere the Director of Public Prosecutions or theFinancial Intelligence Mnit applies under section 72 for aforfeiture order`

(a) he or it shall give no less than seven daysLritten notice of the application only toany person Lho is VnoLn to oLn orcontrol directly or indirectly, Lholly orKointly ior have an interest inj the terroristproperty in respect of Lhich the applica-tion is being madea

(/) the person and any other person Lhoclaims an interest in the property mayappear and produce evidence at thehearing of the applicationa and

(c) The #upreme Court may, at any timebefore the final determination of theapplication, direct the Director of PublicProsecutions or the Financial IntelligenceMnit (as the case may be) to`

(i) give notice of the application to anyperson Lho, in the opinion of theCourt, appears to have an interest inthe propertya

(ii) publish in the Gazette or aneLspaper published and circulatingin Belize, a notice of the application.

74. (1) ehere, upon application by the Director ofPublic Prosecutions or the Financial Intelligence Mnit, theCourt is satisfied, on a balance of probabilities, that propertyto Lhich the application relates is terrorist property, theCourt shall order that specified property to be forfeited.

Forfeitureorder forterroristproperty.


Notice ofApplication.

(2) NotLithstanding subsection (1), if a personclaiming an interest in the property to Lhich an applicationrelates satisfies the Court that he _

(a) has an interest in the propertya

(/) has, in the circumstances, exercisedreasonable care to ensure that the propertyis not terrorist propertya and

(c) is not a member of a terrorist group,

the Court shall order that the interest of that person shall notbe affected by the forfeiture order, and the Court shalldeclare the nature and extent of the interest in question.

(1) If a person obtains an interest in property afterit becomes terrorist property, no order shall be made undersubsection (2) in respect of that interest unless the person isa bona fide purchaser for value, Lithout reason to suspectthat the property is terrorist property.

(4) ehere the Court maVes a forfeiture order, theCourt may give such directions as are necessary or convenientfor giving effect to the order.

75. (1) #ubKect to subsection (2), Lhere the #upremeCourt maVes a forfeiture order against any property, theproperty vests absolutely in the Government by virtue of theorder.

(2) ehere property ordered to be forfeited is realproperty _

(a) the property vests in Government in equityonly and not at laL until the applicableregistration requirements have beencomplied Litha

Effect offorfeitureorder inrespect ofterroristproperty.


(/) the Government is entitled to be regis-tered as oLner of the propertya

(c) the Director of Public Prosecutions or theFinancial Intelligence Mnit has poLer onbehalf of the Government to do orauthorise the doing of anything necessaryor convenient to obtain the registration ofGovernment as oLner, including theexecution of any instrument to be executedby a person transferring an interest inproperty of that Vind.

PART 5

International Cooperation

7>. (1) The #upreme Court, a supervisory authority orother competent authority shall cooperate Lith a superiorcourt or other competent authority of another #tate, taVingthe appropriate measures to provide assistance in mattersconcerning money laundering offences, terrorist financingoffences and other serious crimes, in accordance Lith thisAct, and Lithin the limits of their respective legal systems.

(2) The #upreme Court or other competent authoritymay receive a request from a superior court or other competentauthority of another #tate to identify, trace, freeze, seize orforfeit the property, proceeds, or instrumentalities connectedto money laundering offences, terrorist financing offencesand serious crimes, and may taVe appropriate actions toprovide the Lidest range of assistance, including thosecontained in Parts III and IY of this Act.

(1) A final Kudicial order or Kudgment that providesfor the forfeiture of property, proceeds or instrumentalitiesconnected to a money laundering offence, terrorist financingoffence or other serious offence, issued by a court or other

Assistance toforeigncountries.


competent authority of another #tate, may be recognized byKudicial authorities in Belize as evidence that the property,proceeds or instrumentalities referred to by such order orKudgment is subKect to forfeiture in accordance Lith the laL.A court in Belize may treat such order or Kudgment asevidence in any proceedings to obtain a forfeiture orderunder the laLs of Belize.

(4) The #upreme Court, a supervisory authority orother competent authority may receive and taVe appropriatemeasures Lith respect to a request from a superior court orother competent authority of another #tate, for assistancerelated to civil, criminal, or administrative investigation,prosecution or proceedings, as the case may be, involving amoney laundering offence, terrorist financing offence orother serious offence, or the proceeds of any such offence,or violations of any provisions similar to those set out in thisAct. #uch assistance may include providing original orcertified copies of relevant documents and records, includingthose of financial institutions and government agencies,obtaining testimony or statements in Belizea facilitating thevoluntary presence or availability in the requesting #tate ofpersons, including those in custody, to give testimony,locating or identifying persons, service of documents,examining obKects and placesa executing searches andseizuresa providing information and evidentiary itemsarestraining property or undertaVing other provisionalmeasuresa and identifying or tracing proceeds orinstrumentalities of crime. A treaty or other agreement shallnot be necessary for the #upreme Court or other competentauthority to provide assistance under this section, and dualcriminality shall not be required.

(5) Any provisions referring to banV secrecy orconfidentiality shall not be an impediment to the provision ofassistance to a requesting #tate. The #upreme Court, uponrequest for information from the Kudicial or other competentauthorities of another #tate, may order a banV or other


financial institution to produce information otherLise pro-tected by banV secrecy or confidentiality.

(>) The Financial Intelligence Mnit may taVe suchaction as may be appropriate including directing the freezingof funds and other financial assets or economic resources ofany person to comply Lith or give effect to a resolution of the#ecurity Council of the Mnited Nations adopted underChapter YII of the Mnited Nations Charter`

Provided that if the #ecurity Council taVes anysubsequent decision Lhich has the effect of postponing,suspending or canceling the operation of such resolution, inLhole or in part, any order made by the Financial Intelli-gence Mnit pursuant to that resolution shall cease to haveeffect or its operation shall be postponed or suspended, inLhole or in part, as the case may be, in accordance Lith thatdecision.

PART 5I

'iEcellaneoJE

77. Soney laundering, terrorism and terrorist financingoffences shall be extraditable offences. They shall bedeemed to be offences for Lhich extradition from Belizemay taVe place under any laL or treaty to Lhich Belize is aparty relating to extradition or the rendition of fugitives.

78. There is hereby established a special fund to beVnoLn as the Belize Confiscated and Forfeited Assets Fund(hereinafter referred to as bthe Fundc).

7F. (1) There shall be credited to the Fund`

(a) all moneys derived from the fulfilment ofconfiscation and forfeiture orders and from


Moneylaunderingand terroristfinancing tobeextraditableoffences.

Establishmentof the Fund.

Receipts andDisbursements.

settlements of confiscation and forfeitureclaimsa

(/) any sums of money allocated to the Fundfrom time to time by parliamentary appro-priationa

(c) any voluntary payment, grant or gift madeby any person for the purposes of theFunda

(d) any income derived from the investmentof any amount standing to the credit of theFunda and

(e) any sharing of confiscated or forfeitedproperty and funds received from other#tates.

(2) The 'iniEter of Finance may authorise pay-ments out of the Fund to _

(a) pay the administrative expenses of theFinancial Intelligence Mnita

(/) compensate victims Lho suffered lossesas a result of serious crimes, terrorism orother unlaLful activitya

(c) satisfy a compensation order made underthis Acta

(d) enable the appropriate laL enforcementagencies to continue their fight againstserious crimes, terrorism and other un-laLful activitiesa

(e) share forfeited property Lith foreign#tatesa

(f) rehabilitation of drug usersa


(;) public education on the dangers of drugabusea

(<) satisfy a compensation order relating tothe lifting of a restrainta

(i) pay expenses relating to the recovery,management and disposition of propertyincluding mortgages and liens againstrelevant property and the fees of receivers,trustees, managers or other professionalsproviding assistancea and

(>) pay the costs associated Lith the adminis-tration of the Fund, including the costs ofexternal audits.

(1) The Fund shall be annually audited by anexternal auditor approved by the Sinister.

80. (1) The 'iniEter of Finance shall table a reportin the National Assembly, that shall be made publiclyavailable, not later than the first sitting of the \ouse afterthe expiry of F0 days from the close of the fiscal yeardetailing _

(a) the amounts credited to the Funda

(/) the investments made Lith the amountscredited to the Funda and

(c) the payments made from the Fund, in-cluding the specific purpose for Lhicheach payment Las made and to Lhom itLas made.

Annualreport toNationalAssembly.


(2) The report referred to in subsection (1) aboveshall be prepared by the Director, Financial IntelligenceMnit, and shall be submitted to the Sinister not later than 1stSay in every year.

81. #ubKect to the provisions of the Belize Constitution,the provision of this Act shall have effect notLithstandingany obligation as to secrecy or other restriction upon thedisclosure of information imposed by any laL or otherLise.

82. It shall not be unlaLful for any person to maVe anydisclosure in compliance Lith this Act.

81. Ivery financial institution or other person Lho failsto comply Lith any direction or instruction given by theFinancial Intelligence Mnit or a supervisory authority underthis Act shall be guilty of an offence and shall, unless apenalty is specifically provided elseLhere, be liable onsummary conviction to a fine not exceeding tLenty-fivethousand dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceedingthree years, or to both.

84. (1) No prosecution in respect of any offencecommitted under this Act or the Pegulations made thereundershall be instituted except by, or Lith the consent in Lritingof, the Director of Public Prosecutions or the FinancialIntelligence Mnit`

Provided that this subsection shall not prevent thearrest, or the issue or execution of a Larrant for thearrest, of any person in respect of such an offence, orthe remand in custody or on bail of any personcharged Lith such an offence, notLithstanding thatthe necessary consent to the institution of proceedingsfor the offence has not been obtained.

(2) All offences under this Act shall be triedsummarily Lithout the consent of the accused unless

Generalpenalty fornon-compliance.

Investigationandprosecutionof offences.


Secrecyobligationsoverridden.CAP.4.

Disclosureprotected.

otherLise directed by the Director of Public Prosecutions. Ifno contrary direction is received by the court at the time ofarraignment or trial, the court shall proceed to summary trialLithout maVing any further enquiries in that respect.

(1) In the investigation and prosecution of offencesunder this Act, or in the obtaining of ancillary and interimorders from the court, or in the taVing of any other measuresreferred or provided by this Act, the Director of PublicProsecutions, the Director, Financial Intelligence Mnit andthe Commissioner of Police shall coordinate their activitiesand render one another all such assistance as may be requiredfor giving full effect to the provisions and purposes of thisAct.

85. All prosecutions, actions, suits or other proceedingsbrought for any offence, or for the recovery of any fines,penalties or forfeitures, under this Act or the Pegulationsmade thereunder, shall be brought Lithin five years nextafter the date the offence Las committed or the cause ofaction accrued or the facts giving rise to such offence cameto the VnoLledge of the Director of Public Prosecutions orthe Financial Intelligence Mnit.

8>. (1) The Sinister may maVe Pegulations for thebetter carrying out of the provisions of this Act and forprescribing anything that needs to be prescribed.

(2) All Pegulations made under subsection (1)shall be subKect to negative resolution.

87. This Act shall come into force on a day to beappointed by the Sinister by Order published in the Gazette6

88. (1) On the coming into force of this Act, theSoney [aundering (Prevention) Act shall stand repealed.

(2) NotLithstanding subsection (1) above, any in-vestigation, prosecution, legal proceeding or remedy inrespect of any offence committed or any liability incurred

Regulations.

Commencement.

Repeal ofChapter 104.


Limitation ofproceedings.

under the Soney [aundering (Prevention) Act may beinstituted, continued or enforced, and the penalty, forfeitureor punishment may be imposed, as if the said Act had notbeen repealed.

Cap. 104


FIRST SCHEDULE3Section 96

Activitie9 and b:9ine99e9 9:bject to thi9 Act

1. Acceptance of deposits and other repayablefunds from the public.

2. [ending, including consumer credit, mortgagecredit, factoring (Lith or Lithout recourse) andfinancing of commercial transactions.

1. Financial leasing.

4. Transfer of money or value.

5. Soney and currency changing (such as casa decambio).

>. PaLning.

7. Issuing and administering means of payment(such as credit and debit cards, travellerRscheques, money orders, banVers drafts andelectronic money).

8. Issuing financial guarantees and commitments.

F. Trading for oLn account or for account ofcustomers in money marVet instruments (suchas cheques, bills, certificates of deposit, deriva-tives), foreign exchange, financial futures andoptions, exchange and interest rate instruments,transferable securities and commodity futurestrading.

10. Credit unions.


11. Participation in securities issues and theprovision of financial services related to suchissues.

12. Advice to undertaVings on capital structure,industrial strategy and related questions, andadvice and services relating to mergers and thepurchase of undertaVings.

11. Portfolio management and advice Lhetherindividual or collective.

14. #afeVeeping and administration of securities.

15. #afe Veeping and administration of cash orliquid securities on behalf of other persons.

1>. OtherLise investing, administering or managingfunds or money on behalf of other persons.

17. Gambling houses.

18. Casinos.

1F. Internet Casinos or Online Gaming

20. Buying or selling of gold bullion.

21. Insurance business.

22. Yenture risV capital.

21. Mnit trusts.

24. A trust or company service provider nototherLise covered by this schedule, Lhich as abusiness, provides any of the folloLing servicesto third parties`


a. acting as a formation agent of legalpersonsa

/. acting as (or arranging for anotherperson to act as) a director orsecretary of a company, a partner ofa partnership, or a similar positionin relation to other legal personsa

c. providing a registered officeabusiness address or accommodation,correspondence or administrativeaddress for a company, a partnershipor any other legal person orarrangementa

d. acting as (or arranging for anotherperson to act as) a trustee of anexpress trusta

e. acting as (or arranging for anotherperson to act as) a nomineeshareholder for another person.

25. International (or Offshore) banVing business asdefined in the International BanVing Act.

2>. [aLyers, notaries, other independent legalprofessionals, accountants, auditors and taxadvisers, Lhen they prepare for or carry outtransactions for their clients concerning thefolloLing activities`

a. buying and selling of real estatea

/. managing of client money, securitiesor other assetsa

Cap. 267.


c. management of banV, savings or securi-ties accountsa

d. organisation of contributions for thecreation, operation or management ofcompaniesa

e. creation, operation or management of legalpersons or arrangements, and buying andselling of business entities.

27. Dealing in real estate Lhen the persons dealingare involved in transactions concerning thebuying and selling of real estate.

28. Dealing in precious metals and dealing inprecious stones.

2F. Dealing in vehicles.

10. Ingaging in international financial services asdefined in the International Financial #ervicesCommission Act.

Cap. 272.


SECOND SCHEDULE

\Section 9]

SerioJE OffenceE

Surder, manslaughter, dangerous and grievous bodily harm

didnapping, illegal restraint and hostage-taVing

Pobbery

Theft involving more than k10,000.00

Terrorism including terrorist financing and related offences

Drug TrafficVing and related offences

BlacVmail

Counterfeiting

Ixtortion

False accounting

Forgery

Fraud

#muggling

TrafficVing in human beings and migrant smuggling

Illicit trafficVing in stolen and other goods

Corruption and bribery

Invironmental offences

Piracy

Participation in criminal gangs

#exual exploitation of Lomen and children


THIRD SCHEDULE

1Section =2

S:pervi9ory a:thoritie9



214 Money Laundering and Terrorism (Prevention) [No. 18


FOURTH SCHEDULE

1Section =2

Co:nter Terrori9m Convention9

1. Convention on Offences and certain OtherActs committed on Board Aircraft signed atToVyo on 14th #eptember 1F>1a

2. Convention for the #uppression of MnlaLful#eizure of Aircraft done at the \ague on 1>th

December 1F70a

1. Convention for the #uppression of MnlaLfulActs Against the #afety of Civil Aviation, doneat Sontreal on 21rd #eptember 1F71a

4. Convention on the Prevention and Punishmentof Crimes Against Internationally ProtectedPerson, including Diplomatic Agents, adoptedby the General Assembly of the Mnited Nationson 14th December 1F71a

5. International Convention against the taVing of\ostages, adopted by the General Assembly ofthe Mnited Nations on 17th December 1F7Fa

>. Convention on the Physical Protection ofNuclear Saterial, adopted at Yienna on 1rd

Sarch 1F80a

7. Protocol for the #uppression of MnlaLful Actsof Yiolence at Airports #erving InternationalCivil Aviation, supplementary to the Conven-tion for the #uppression of unlaLful Acts againstthe #afety of Civil Aviation, done at Sontrealon 24th February 1F88a

216 Money Laundering and Terrorism (Prevention) [No. 18

8. Convention for the #uppression of MnlaLfulActs against the #afety of Saritime Naviga-tion, done at Pome on 10th Sarch 1F88a

F. Protocol for the #uppression of MnlaLful Actsagainst the #afety of Fixed Platforms locatedon the Continental #helf, done at Pome on 10th

Sarch 1F88a

10. Convention of the SarVing of Plastic Ixplo-sives for the Purposes of Detention, signed atSontreal, on 1st Sarch 1FF1a

11. International Convention for the #uppressionof Terrorist Bombings, adopted by the GeneralAssembly of the Mnited Nations on 15th De-cember 1FF7a and

12. International Convention for the #uppressionof the Financing of Terrorism, adopted by theGeneral Assembly of the Mnited Nations on Fth

December 1FFF.

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Documents

Money Laundering and Terrorism (Prevention) Act, 2008