Investment in terrorist activities to be banned

KATHMANDU, Sept 23: The government has added revenue evasion and organized crime as two new sources of illegal money in the new amendment to the Anti-Money Laundering Act and is preparing to take action against such activities accordingly.



The new amendment proposal that the Finance Minister tabled in parliament for approval this week has for the first time imposed ban on investment of any form in terrorist activities and set stringent provisions for anyone who violates this rule.[break]



“The new provisions have been added in order to polish the existing act as per the international standard,” states the draft amendment tabled in parliament.



The changes were incorporated also as per the advice of the financial action taskforce of the International Co-operation Review Group (ICRG). In the absence of these provisions, the taskforce had raised question over the government´s commitment to control misuse of money for financing criminal and terrorist activities.



The amendment also states that a person can be regarded as investing in terrorist activities if he mobilizes or contributes money with an aim to kill or disable others or/and carry out unlawful act on board and holding people hostage, among others.



“Even if the person is found involved in such act abroad, he will be considered as committing crime in Nepal itself and will be punished accordingly,” the new draft states.



The draft entrusts the onus of furnishing proof on the person charged of investing in terrorist activities. If the defendant failed to prove his innocence, he could be put behind the bars from one to five years and fined up to half a million rupees.



The draft amendment has also included Secretary of the Office of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Deputy Attorney General and Inspector General of Police as new members in the Coordination Committee formed to ensure inter-ministerial coordination and make appropriate recommendations to the government on the issue.



The committee is led by the Finance Secretary and the existing Act had appointed secretaries of Ministry of Law and Justice and Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Deputy Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) as the members.



Among others, the expanded committee will also be responsible to formulate and implement policies on controlling the crime of money laundering, according to the draft amendment. It will also recommend the government on international conventions the country should ratify and new measures that it should adopt on anti-money laundering.

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