PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC) – The United States has donated specialised equipment to the Trinidad and Tobago government that will improve efforts to detect, deter, and prosecute financial crimes in the country.

The agreement to launch the Financial Crimes Advisor programme, which was signed by National Security Minister Gary Griffith and Chargé d’Affairs of the US Embassy, Margaret Diop, also allows for the provision of expertise by Washington.

“The US-TT Financial Crimes Advisor program enables an experienced financial crimes investigator from the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Technical Assistance to mentor the Police Service’s Financial Investigations Branch (FIB), Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), and TT’s Public Prosecutors in their preparation of financial crime cases for prosecution,” according to a statement issued by the US Embassy.

It said in support of the programme, Washington donated the “investigative equipment” to the FIB and FIU. 

“The equipment includes several Multi-Currency Discriminators which can detect counterfeit currency, optical character recognition software to read scanned documents, cameras for surveillance and evidence collection, and computer equipment.”

Diop said the programme would help combat money laundering and prevent funds from being diverted to terrorist organizations, while Griffith said money laundering investigations were a powerful tool to crack down on criminal gangs by going after their ill-gotten gains.  

The US Embassy said that the financial crimes assistance programme is an example of the many initiatives funded under the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative launched by U.S. President Barack Obama, during his visit to Trinidad and Tobago in 2009. 

It said during the first four years of the initiative, Washington has provided more than US$263 million in funding to the region, providing support to Trinidad and Tobago and its Caribbean neighbours in an effort to advance public safety and security, reduce illicit trafficking, and promote social justice.