The judiciary reveals the latest methods of smuggling dollars.. and this is the punishment for those who commit them
The judiciary reveals the latest methods of smuggling dollars.. and this is the punishment for those who commit them
2024/11/28
Two judges specializing in integrity, money laundering and smuggling cases confirmed that the latest methods used in money smuggling crimes are the use of electronic cards to withdraw money abroad, or transfer money for the purposes of “unreal” imports. While they spoke about the most prominent obstacles facing the pursuit of smugglers, they warned of the danger of this crime and its harm to the national economy and development.
The judge of the Integrity and Money Laundering Investigation Court, Iyad Mohsen Damd, said in an interview with Al-Qadaa, “Currency smuggling is one of the crimes that has economic and social impacts, most notably harming the national economy by taking hard currency out of the country and pushing it into circulation in the economic market of other countries.”
In light of the technical and technological developments that the world is witnessing, as Damd points out, “currency smugglers have developed their means and methods of smuggling money, and one of the most recent methods that we have been presented with in practical reality is smuggling currency through prepaid electronic payment cards, where the accused agrees with ordinary citizens to issue payment cards in their names in exchange for small amounts that he gives them, then he fills the cards, carries them and takes them out of the country through airports, and then withdraws the amounts in cash through ATMs in the countries to which he travels.”
Another way to smuggle money, Damd continues, is that “some criminals resort to the currency sales window at the Central Bank of Iraq to buy dollars, and then transfer the money to foreign bank accounts under the pretext of importing goods without there being a real import operation.”
Regarding legal procedures, he pointed out that “the courts currently consider currency smuggling crimes in accordance with the provisions of Resolution 58 of 1982, the penalty for which is life imprisonment, and sometimes it is adapted according to Article 43 of the Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing Law No. 39 of 2015, which is a misdemeanor, and the decisive factor in determining the penalty is the circumstances and facts of the case.”
The judge in charge of combating money laundering stated that “there are legal procedures represented by the enactment of laws that require combating currency smuggling and impose deterrent penalties on perpetrators. There are also institutional procedures represented by the formation of security and intelligence agencies concerned with combating this crime, arresting its perpetrators, and presenting cases before the investigating judges.”
Regarding the obstacles facing the pursuit of currency smugglers, he points out that “the obstacles are represented by the difficulty of tracking and uncovering some of the smugglers’ methods, especially when they use modern methods and advanced technologies. Another obstacle is the fact that the crime is organized and is committed by transnational gangs. It is known that transnational crimes are complex and difficult to track and trace in terms of inspection, arrest and prosecution procedures.”
Regarding technological progress and its impact on increasing or reducing these crimes, the judge describes technological development as “a double-edged sword, as criminals can exploit it to develop methods of currency smuggling, speed it up, and complicate the procedures for tracking it. On the other hand, the competent authorities can benefit from it by combating the crime of currency smuggling by developing inspection and inspection devices at airports, as well as by developing systems to combat money laundering and currency smuggling, and by using technology to activate due diligence procedures that must be followed to reduce the danger and extent of currency smuggling.”
For his part, Judge of the Third Karkh Investigation Court, Muhammad Khalid Jiyad, reveals other modern methods used in currency smuggling and money laundering operations, which are represented by “importing goods from neighboring countries through fictitious deals or attaching forged invoices in which prices are inflated to high levels or through (K-Card) cards,” according to him.
Judge Jihad also explains that “currency smugglers collect a large number of Key Cards and Visa Cards after filling them with national currencies and traveling with them outside Iraq and withdrawing the amounts deposited in them in dollars or by purchasing electronic game cards from the Internet in dollars, as well as through drug and weapons trade and oil smuggling.”
He explained that “traders and importers evade legal accountability by importing under fictitious names, as most of them are not registered for taxes or do not possess an import certificate that originally allows them to conduct commercial exchange.”
The judge warns of “the danger of currency smuggling, which causes economic inflation by doubling or more the prices of goods. These crimes have also led to the instability of the country’s economic situation, the fluctuation of the exchange rate of foreign currencies against the value of the Iraqi dinar, and the spread of poverty, classism, and ignorance in society.”
Jiyad believes that “the biggest obstacle facing the concerned authorities in pursuing foreign currency smugglers is the restriction of dollar ownership to a certain group or parties that control the devaluation or increase of the local currency against the dollar, which has created a kind of dominance and monopoly supported by an umbrella and official decisions,” noting that “the financial policy has failed to achieve stability in the exchange rate of the dinar against the dollar, in addition to the difficulty of uncovering people who launder money and smuggle hard currencies, as this type of crime is covered by a commercial nature.”
He also attributes the reasons for the lack of control over smuggling to “the border crossings that are not controlled by the General Authority of Customs, as well as the presence of some smugglers outside Iraq and of different nationalities, which makes it difficult to reach them and hand them over to the Iraqi state due to international law, as the handing over of smugglers is according to the principle of reciprocity and extradition agreements between countries.”
Regarding the measures taken to confront currency smugglers, he says, “The Central Bank of Iraq plays an important role through its policies, so a special policy must be set for the bank and translated according to instructions and controls and applied to all banks and financial institutions strictly, in addition to special oversight represented by practicing auditing procedures related to oversight of financial institutions.”
Regarding the judicial efforts in this field, Jihad stressed that “the Iraqi judiciary has an important role in confronting this crime through the judicial rulings it issued against currency smugglers, where the provisions of Article 456 of the Penal Code were applied, in accordance with Article 57 of the Iraqi Banking Law No. 94 of 2004, which states that (any person who practices banking activities and works without a banking license issued by the Central Bank of Iraq is considered guilty and subject to prosecution, and the fraud penalty stipulated in the Penal Code shall be applied against him).”
Article 456 of the Penal Code punishes: Whoever obtains or transfers possession of movable property owned by another to himself or to a person by using fraudulent means or by adopting a false name or incorrect description or by reporting a false matter about a specific incident, whenever this is likely to deceive the victim and induce him to surrender.
Accordingly, the judge says, “Actions are taken against natural and legal persons who practice banking activities such as financial transfers abroad without having a license to do so according to their certificate of establishment. The provisions of the dissolved Revolutionary Command Council Resolution No. 58 of 1982 are also applied, which stipulates (Firstly): Anyone proven to have smuggled money outside Iraq for the purpose of investment shall be punished with life imprisonment, and his movable and immovable funds located in Iraq shall be confiscated and registered in the name of the Ministry of Finance. As for the funds intended for smuggling, Article 38 of the Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing Law No. 39 of 2015 stipulates (Firstly: The funds subject to the crime must be confiscated…..) and the dissolved Revolutionary Command Council Resolution No. 58 of 1982 included the confiscation of movable and immovable funds located in Iraq for anyone proven to have smuggled money and specified the entity in whose name these confiscated funds are registered (the Ministry of Finance).
alforatnews.iq
