According to the new head of FATF, we must pursue illicit assets in order to break up the gangs

The new FATF President T. Raja Kumar's principal goal is to seize the assets of criminal organizations.

The Singaporean claims that seizing criminals' assets will remove the incentive for them to commit crimes.

"I have prioritized this because we really need to take out the incentive for crime and that is by going after the proceeds of crime," he stated.

"When we are able to discourage and divest the proceeds of crime from criminals, you actually cripple them. You essentially target the lifeblood of criminal enterprise, which is the money and thereby debilitate. You basically are disrupting them ," he continued.

Kumar was speaking in an interview with ACAMS chief Rick McDonnell this week.

The current civil servant and FATF President, a former Singapore police officer, has declared his desire to combat cybercrime.

"Criminals are making hundreds of billions of dollars off of this criminal enterprise fraud scams. Ransomware has got an impact on you know, not just lives of people, it disrupts businesses."

The interviewer was informed by him that "this is a highly contemporary issue."

Additionally, he wants VASPs and crypto to receive more attention from the worldwide watchdog on financial crime.

“The other area, which hugely important is driving increased attention to beneficial ownership and transparency,” he continued.

Kumar also wants to focus on regional organizations in the FATF approach (FSRBs). "We want to collaborate closely with regional organizations modeled after the FATF; a good, strong strategic alliance. It is essential if we are to maintain the overall strength and resilience of the global network.

After replacing Dr. Marcus Pleyer, deputy director of the German finance ministry, Kumar took office and began a two-year term.

This year, the FATF also welcomed a new executive secretary, Violaine Clerc, who took over for David Lewis in June.

By fLEXI tEAM