NEW DELHI:
India will help Sri Lanka set up a finance intelligence unit (FIU)-like entity
in the island nation at Colombo's request to trace more than $5 billion
allegedly stashed overseas by the erstwhile Rajapaksa regime.
President
Maithripala Sirisena is moving to fulfill electoral promises to check corruption
and repatriate money allegedly siphoned off abroad by Mahinda Rajapaksa, who
ruled Sri Lanka for a decade, and members of his family, government sources
told ET.
The new
Lankan regime has informally approached the Narendra Modi government to assist
in setting up the body, sources said, adding that a formal proposal could be
expected soon.
The finance
ministry will share its best practices with Colombo to set up the unit, which
could be modeled after the Indian body, the sources indicated.
"We could
help close neighbor Sri Lanka with capacity building exercise regarding
FIU," said an official familiar with the process. India set up the FIU in
November 2004 as a national agency to receive, process, analyze and disseminate
information related to suspect financial transactions. It coordinates and
strengthens efforts of national and international intelligence, investigation
and enforcement agencies in pursuing global efforts against money laundering
and related crimes, reporting directly to the finance minister.( The Economic Times)
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