November 5, 2004

Terrorists using Canada to launder funds

Canada still a terrorist haven. From CP, with thanks to Jeffrey Imm:

OTTAWA (CP) - International terrorists and crime syndicates seem to be using Canada to launder dirty money at a sharply rising rate, concludes a federal report released Thursday. Almost 200 cases involving $700 million in suspect financial transactions were investigated over the past fiscal year, says the federal agency that tracks financing by suspected criminals.

That's significantly more than the $460 million tracked the previous year of 2002-2003, the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre (Fintrac) says in its annual report.

Of the $700 million tracked over the past year, about 10 per cent is thought to be linked to terrorist activity financing "and threats to the security of Canada," says the agency.