Conveyancers v Criminals: dealing with suspicious clients
Conveyancers fearful of revenge should they report suspicious clients under the upcoming AML/CTF law reforms have been given clarity over the extent of their involvement and that their privacy would be protected.
SOME conveyancers and other property professionals worry that anti-money laundering and counter terrorism financing compliance might place them at personal risk.
They’re being asked to report suspicions about potential international criminals with access to millions of dollars, if not billions in cash.
What’s to stop them taking revenge on someone who thwarts their plans to launder money through real estate?
It’s a real fear, says AIC NSW President Jennie Tonner in the Australian Conveyancer’s inaugural Settlement Day podcast (broadcast details below).
“They’re sort of concerned that if they lodge a suspicious report that their office or home is going to suddenly be hit with bullets,” she said.
AUSTRAC Chief Executive Brendan Thomas says the concern is unwarranted.
“It is a common question I’ve heard from conveyancers,” Thomas told guests, also including AIC Victoria President Shakila Maclean.
“If I submit a suspicious matter report, is that person going to know that, and is my safety at risk? The answer is no.”
He said no report would be made public or used in court. Rather, it becomes a drop in a pool of information.
“We’ll get multiple reports on the same person from a whole range of different entities,” Thomas added.
“We’ll turn that into financial intelligence and work with police on understanding the nature of the criminality.
“And the police will then go and develop their own evidence and their own case.”
If anyone goes to trial, it will be for drug dealing or arms trafficking, not a dodgy real-estate purchase.
The identities of informants remain secret. “Like a very high-level Crime Stoppers?” asked Tonner.
“It’s a suspicion, yes,” Thomas replied, “And it can’t in its own right be used for prosecution.”
He says AUSTRAC has been regulating business since 2006, with around 19,000 reporting entities.
“There’s never been a threat to anybody who’s submitted a suspicious matter report in Australia,” he said. Or, to his knowledge, in similar AML regimes overseas.
Watch the full Settlement Day video podcast here:
