The Jerusalem
Post, Internet Business Article,
July 10th, 2000:
Excerpts:
"Using
the banking system, Israel has become a green house for
organized crime."
"Israel
is a promised land for money
launderers."
|
Bill to
combat money laundering nearly ready
By Tal
Muscal
JERUSALEM (July 10) -
Legislation against money laundering will be brought soon before
the Knesset, Tzipi Livni, chairwoman of the Knesset subcommittee on
money laundering, said yesterday.
"Using the banking system, Israel has
become a green house for organized crime," she said.
Livni acknowledged that "dirty money"
has come into the country using legal means. "Depositing money is
legal; the problem is that the money is from criminal actions and we
must stop that," she added.
In December, Cmdr. Yossi Sedbon of
the Israel Police warned of that the country was turning into an
international center for money laundering. "Israel is a promised land
for money launderers; it is easy to become a citizen. You need a
Jewish mother, but if you don't have one, you can create one," he
said.
Internal Security Ministry spokesman
Moshe Debi stated that the Justice Ministry is preparing legislation
to fight the phenomenon. "We are working together with the Justice
Ministry, Bank of Israel, Israel Police, and the Customs Authority,"
he said. "As long as there is no legislation, we can't take
action."
Subcommittee members and ministry
representatives have attended UN-sponsored seminars and workshops
designed to increase awareness among the law makers.
The anti-money laundering bill would
make it an offense to conceal the origins of money earned through
criminal acts. It sets up requirements for banks and other financial
institutions to report suspicious transactions and would allow the
government to establish a database from the data
collected.
"In creating the proper type of
legislation, we in the committee have attempted not to violate the
citizen's right to privacy," said Livni. "The law does violate a
certain amount of people's privacy, but we need a clear law against
money laundering."
