The Mutual Legal Assistance, Financial Crimes & Financial Services Commission Unit

• Responsible for executing and coordinating requests for assistance to and from foreign countries.
• The unit also handles/prosecutes matters involving money laundering and proceeds of crime.
• Advise financial crimes investigators.
• Since its inception in 1995, the Unit has responded to over 280 requests from countries worldwide and made 32 requests on behalf of local law enforcement agencies.
• This function of the unit requires quick response as many requests are urgent, requiring immediate Court action such as applications for restraint orders to freeze tainted money transferred into Jamaica.
• This Unit also manages the Forfeiture, Money Laundering and Financial Crimes portfolios.
• All of these require quick responses and often involve a lot of drafting, research and time spent going through large volumes of transactions and paperwork to appreciate the nature of the crimes committed.
• The prosecution of these matters also consumes a lot of preparation and Court time.

(N.B. Requests are made by/accepted from treaty states and designated Commonwealth States).