Marcelo Buendía Vélez, associate attorney at the Bogotá office of Díaz Reus and former prosecutor in Colombia’s anti-money laundering unit: “Colombia has invested a significant amount of resources in the prosecution of money laundering cases, and results have so far been very positive. New investigative techniques, proper training for investigators and prosecutors, and cooperation within public and private entities have been the main reasons for Colombia’s results. However, there is still much to do because money launderers are always searching for new ways to accomplish their goals. In the fight against money laundering, Colombian authorities face three main obstacles. First, criminality moves faster than authorities, which take too long investigating and then prosecuting.
The lack of swiftness in investigations and legal processes is, undoubtedly, one of the main obstacles. Second, there is still a lack of knowledge on investigative techniques to fight nontraditional money launderers. Cryptocurrency or even art markets used for money laundering are among the examples of unexplored cases for most officers in charge of investigating and prosecuting.
How Can Colombia’s Gov’t Better Fight Money Launderers?
