Possible financial crimes worth over RD$84.1 billion detected

The Financial Analysis Unit (UAF) has produced 42 reports on potential financial crimes such as tax evasion, money laundering, unjustified enrichment, illicit drug trafficking, and controlled substances. Of these, 36 reports were sent to the Public Ministry or other authorities when sufficient evidence was found to link individuals to previous offenses. The UAF analyzed 93 people (65 physical and 28 legal), using 22,973 reports to identify 168 properties, 144 vehicles, and a total volume of RD$84.1 billion. The UAF’s findings suggest that the most probable crimes were tax offenses (45.71%), unjustified enrichment (31.43%), money laundering (17.14%), and illicit drug trafficking (5.71%). Red flags identified by the UAF include transactions involving large amounts of unreported cash (58.62%) and investments of unknown sources for property acquisitions (6.90%).

The UAF received Suspicious Operation Reports (ROS) from vehicle dealers, concessionaires, construction, and real estate companies, representing 79.61% of these types of reports. In contrast, the casinos, lottery and betting banks, and gambling sectors provided 99.51% of the Cash Transaction Reports (RTE). The UAF produced 532 intelligence reports in 2022, 42 of which were spontaneous and 490 technical assistance. The technical assistance offered by the UAF to various State agencies showed that administrative corruption (18.30%), illicit drug trafficking (11.44%), and money laundering (6.86%) were the most frequently identified predicate offenses. The UAF covered 2,121 individuals (1,457 physical and 664 legal) through technical assistance, identifying 4,883 vehicles, 1,910 properties, RD$610 billion, and $1.3 billion dollars.

Other identified crimes, such as illicit currency trafficking, tax offenses, fraud against the State, human trafficking, aggravated robbery, murder, and association of criminals, presented a lower frequency (less than 2%). The UAF also provided information on 100 individuals (84 physical and 16 legal) to support the resolution of cases from requesting countries. The UAF’s annual statistics report for 2022 did not identify physical and legal persons involved.