US CUSTOMS HOLDS SEMINAR ON MONEY LAUNDERING

ZAGREB, 24 September (Hina) - On Monday and Tuesday the US Customs Department held a seminar on money laundering for the staff of the Finance and Interior Ministry in Zagreb. Upon completion of the seminar the participants were addressed by the US ambassador to Croatia Peter Galbraith and by Finance Minister Bozidar Prka. Money laundering is a phenomenon with destructive influence on honest societies, which de stabilizes governments and countries, said ambassador Galbraith. "Last year in his address to the UN President Clinton announced the US would step up their efforts on curbing of money laundering, stressing that organized crimes was undermining emerging democracies and acting against the interests of honest hard working people, stated Mr. Galbraith. By laundering money criminals can sap the profits Croatia might earn as the result of the peace process and democratization, said Galbraith, underscoring that measures against money laundering might have an important effect on Croatian economic development. "Our joint efforts in the campaign against money laundering go hand in hand with efforts for the boosting of our bilateral trade, said the US ambassador. As a part of its support to Croatia for measures against money laundering and illegal trade in arms and drugs, the US Customs Department gave its Croatian counterpart today a donation worth US dollars 260,000, in high technology baggage scanners, equipment for detection of illegal drugs, as well as in computers and conventional customs equipment, said Mr. Galbraith. The Croatian Government intends to pass all necessary measures for prevention of illegal financial transactions, stressed Minister Prka. Finance Ministry has drafted a bill on money laundering, which has also been sanctioned by recent amendments of the Penal Code, said Prka. Best prevention against money laundering is an efficient control of the flow of money, said Prka. Hence, the Government has decided that all cash deposits worth 100,000 kuna or more would have to be accompanied with proof of origin. Such deposits will be reported to financial authority and the Office for the Prevention of Money Laundering, which will operate within the framework of the Financial Police Department, announced Prka. The US have developed most sophisticated methods for prevention of illegal financial transactions. Hence, American know how and technology will significantly help Croatia to build institutions of law and order, said Minister Prka. (Hina) mr 242122 MET sep 96