Canadian Official Says Innocent Citizens Will Be Caught In Money Laundering Dragnet

by Carla Johnson, Investors Offshore.com

29 October 2001

Following the announcement made last week that the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (Fintrac) will be receiving a $10 million cash injection in order to assist it in the fight against terrorist money laundering, a top Canadian official has admitted that innocent Canadian citizens are likely to suffer as a result of new initiatives.

Jim Peterson, Secretary of State in charge of international financial institutions, explaining the role of Fintrac within the regulatory system, told a news conference that evidence provided by the banks on suspicious transactions would be monitored by the analysis centre, and then handed over to the Solicitor General, who would order a seizure of assets.

However, Mr Peterson admitted that there were bound to be mistakes made, and somewhat alarmingly pointed to the fact that 'there's so many people with the same name in this country' as a possible stumbling point. He said that the government had not yet decided how innocent Canadians whose bank accounts were wrongly raided will be compensated for lost interest and revenues, but added that they would have the option of challenging the solicitor general over the seizure, and recourse to the Federal Court if they are unhappy with the outcome of the initial appeal.

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