New OECD handbook boosts anti-money laundering efforts and helpful for Canadian charities

The OECD Money Laundering Awareness Handbook for Tax Examiners and Tax Auditors can be found at:
http://www.oecd.org/document/46/0,3343,en_2649_33767_43841326_1_1_1_1,00.html

As the OECD website notes: “Criminals accumulate significant sums of money by committing crimes such as drug trafficking, human trafficking, theft, investment fraud, extortion, corruption, embezzlement and tax fraud.  There are substantial similarities between the techniques used to launder the proceeds of crimes and to commit tax crimes. Tax crimes may also indicate that money laundering is taking place.”

Charities are not immune from being used as a conduit for money laundering.  “The Money Laundering Awareness Handbook for Tax Examiners and Tax Auditors provides guidance in identifying money laundering during the conduct of normal tax audits, and describes the nature of money laundering activities so that tax examiners and auditors can better understand how their contribution can assist criminal investigators in countering money laundering.”

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Mark Blumberg is a lawyer at Blumberg Segal LLP in Toronto, Ontario.  To find out more about legal services that Blumbergs provides to Canadian charities and non-profits please visit http://www.canadiancharitylaw.ca or http://www.globalphilanthropy.ca He can be contacted at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or at 416-361-1982.

This article is for information purposes only. It is not intended to be legal advice. You should not act or abstain from acting based upon such information without first consulting a legal professional.