Financial Crime World

Money Laundering Scandal Rocks Tunisian Politics: Parliament Approves Police Personnel Vetting Amendments

paraparticular, there have been growing concerns over suspicious funding in Tunisian politics. In response, Tunisia’s parliament has approved amendments to the law on police personnel vetting.

Police Personnel Vetting Amendments

The Ministry of Internal Affairs spearheaded the proposal to expedite and reduce the financial costs of the vetting process. The amendments were passed at a parliament session in Tunis, the capital city of Tunisia, and are a part of an effort to tackle corruption and organized crime in the country.

Calls for Stricter Rules on Party Finances

The ruling Socialist Party’s Chair of the Parliamentary Group, Mohamed Khelifi, has called for stricter rules on political parties’ finances due to allegations of over $1 million in Russian money flowing into the Democratic Party. He urged Tunisian prosecutors to investigate this matter fully and called for harsher criminal sanctions on crimes against police officers.

  • Call for investigations into suspicious funding in the Democratic Party
  • Urge for harsher criminal sanctions against crimes against police officers

International Concerns

The United States State Department’s 2019 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report suggested that Tunisia made little progress in curbing money laundering and financial crimes in 2018. Corruption, growing organized crime networks, and weak legal and government institutions continue to leave Tunisia vulnerable to money laundering.

Fighting Money Laundering

In an attempt to strengthen the financial monitoring framework and combat money laundering, the Financial Monitoring Service (FMS) in Tunisia has been conducting trainings for reporting institutions.

  • Weak legal and government institutions leave Tunisia vulnerable to money laundering
  • FMS conducts trainings for reporting institutions to improve their ability to detect and report suspicious transactions

Reforms and International Focus on Tunisia

Parliament’s approval of the police personnel vetting amendments has been welcomed by PACE monitors, who have called for concrete results. International organizations like the IMF continue to focus on governance challenges and corresponding reforms in Tunisia.

  • PACE monitors welcome reforms and call for concrete results
  • IMF focuses on governance challenges and corresponding reforms in Tunisia.