Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling on Montserrat: A Growing Concern

Montserrat’s stability is facing a moderate threat from human trafficking and migrant smuggling, according to a recent assessment. Although instances are limited, the island nation is taking steps to strengthen its anti-money laundering (AML) and combating the financing of terrorism (CFT) framework.

Tax Crimes: A Major Concern

Tax evasion and fraud are significant concerns for Montserrat, with nine pending cases related to tax offenses. The assessment team has assigned a medium ML threat rating due to these concerns. To address this issue, Montserrat has recruited new tax experts and initiated stronger AML/CFT frameworks.

Mitigation Efforts

• Recruiting new tax experts
• Strengthening AML/CFT frameworks

Drug Trafficking: A Relatively Small but Growing Problem

Over the past five years, cannabis has been the primary drug smuggled into Montserrat. Although the island nation has strict AML/CFT legislation in place to prevent this type of crime, infrequent occurrences and relatively small quantities discovered have resulted in a medium ML threat rating.

Key Findings

• Cannabis is the primary drug smuggled into Montserrat
• Infrequent occurrences and small quantities discovered
• Medium ML threat rating due to these concerns

National Risk Assessment

The National Risk Assessment 2023 highlights several vulnerabilities that Montserrat is addressing to prevent the potential abuse of its financial system. These include:

Vulnerabilities

• Quality and accessibility of intelligence gathering and processing:
  • Developing new AML/CFT policies and procedures
  • Concerns about data collection methods and distribution mechanisms
• Quality of national AML/CFT policy and strategy:
  • Lack of an approved national AML/CFT strategy
  • Hindering the government’s efforts to combat money laundering and terrorist financing
• Capacity and resources of investigation and financial crime prosecutions:
  • Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) has received training in prosecuting money laundering and terrorist financing cases
  • Lacking sufficient human resources to process cases efficiently

Sector Assessment

The assessment team identified several sectors that are most susceptible to money laundering, including:

Susceptible Sectors

• Credit unions
• Money service businesses
• Domestic banks
• Real estate companies
• Legal professionals

ML Threat Rating

• Moderate to high risk in these sectors
• ML threat rated as medium to low

Conclusion

Montserrat’s National Risk Assessment 2023 highlights the need for continued vigilance and cooperation among government agencies, financial institutions, and other stakeholders to prevent the misuse of its financial system.