AUSTRAC the value of suspicious matter reporting Markus Erikson, - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

AUSTRAC

the value of suspicious matter reporting

Markus Erikson, Director Intelligence, AUSTRAC

July 2020

Serious crime is motivated by profit, and no matter the size, most criminal acts leave a financial trail.

About AUSTRAC

AUSTRAC is the Australian Government agency responsible for detecting, deterring and disrupting criminal abuse of the financial system to protect the community from serious and organised crime. Criminals seek to exploit vulnerabilities within the financial sector to disguise illicit funds to enable other serious crimes such as terrorism, slavery, drug trafficking, child exploitation, fraud and corruption. Through strong regulation, and enhanced intelligence capabilities, AUSTRAC collects and analyses financial reports and information to generate financial intelligence. This vital information about potential criminals and criminal activity contributes to our national security and law enforcement investigations.

The superannuation sector faces a range of criminal threats – from

• ffences by individual members to complex crimes.

The volume and value of money moving through the superannuation sector makes it an attractive target for money laundering and fraud. Recent fraud cases have involved criminals using falsified documents to illegally access the early release of superannuation initiative, which is available to vulnerable Australians who legitimately need to access the scheme.

What is the criminal threat environment?

Meeting your AUSTRAC obligations protects your business and our financial system against misuse for criminal purposes. There are a range of obligations, including taking steps to identify a customer and checking they are who they say they are and reporting suspicious matters.

Protecting your business and our community

Reporting suspicious customer behaviour contributes directly to law enforcement investigations to protect the Australian community from crime.

Reporting increases and greater awareness

Significant year-on-year increases in suspicious matter reporting from superannuation funds

Common themes and crimes disrupted from reporting

Include illegal early release, identity fraud, tax evasion and movement of the proceeds of crime

What is AUSTRAC seeing?

Since 2016 - 2020

Individuals manipulating economic circumstances Individuals fraudulently using another person’s ID to access their superannuation Attempted large scale fraud by organised crime groups

Fraud types targeting the Early Release of Superannuation initiative

Reporting SMRs is evidence that a fund is likely to have effective AML/CTF systems and controls in place…

Recent superannuation related reporting that led to the disruption of attempted fraud included:

• Identified links between newly opened accounts
• Reporting of user agent data to access accounts and

systems

• Discrepancies between expected behaviour and the

movement of funds

The value of suspicious reports

Guidance and resources

Visit AUSTRAC’s website for guidance and resources and superannuation industry specific guidance to support you to comply and report. If you have questions about your AUSTRAC compliance

• bligations, please contact us by emailing

contact@austrac.gov.au