DONATIONS FOR TURKEY AND SYRIA: KNOW WHO TO TRUST WITH YOUR MONEY
The devastating earthquake of February 6th 2023 and its many aftershocks in Turkey and Syria have left tens of thousands dead. Even more have been injured and lost their home and belongings.
In the wake of this immense tragedy, people from all over the world have donated clothes and other items to non-profit organizations (NPOs). In addition, money for food, clothes and medicines has been donated and these collection efforts are still ongoing. Various NPOs have taken initiatives to ensure that the donated items and funds are delivered to those in need and that the funds are spent correctly.
These relief efforts and the willingness of people to provide help, also creates opportunities for criminals and terrorists to misuse these efforts for their own purposes. For example, criminals can use trucks containing donated items to traffic drugs and/or weapons, and terrorists can (mis)use NPOs (knowingly or unknowingly) to collect funds with the aim of financing terrorism. Additionally, criminals and terrorists can also use the situation in Turkey and Syria to scam people into sending funds thinking they are helping someone in need while, in fact, the money has a completely different destination and will be used for other purposes (also see the news item on the website: “Waarschuwing voor ‘romance scams’” – August 18, 2020.)
Hence, FIU-Aruba urges people that want to donate items or funds to help the victims of the earthquakes to first ensure themselves that the NPO that they are supporting is legitimate and trustworthy, such as the Red Cross. They should also make sure that the NPO provides specific information regarding the final destination of the donated items and funds.
Always remain vigilant and make sure that you know who to trust with your money!
Attention for financial and non-financial service providers:
In line with the risk-based approach, it is important to remain alert for red flags when conducting a transaction (i.e. financial transaction/service) for or on behalf of a client. If there is reason to assume that a transaction is related to money laundering, terrorist financing or proliferation financing, this should be reported promptly to FIU-Aruba in an unusual transaction report under the subjective indicator 130201 or 130202.
Additionally, FIU-Aruba reiterates the importance of conducting a ‘sanctions-check’ to determine whether transaction(s) must be reported objectively under indicator 130102 (see in particular: “Aanwijzing geconsolideerde lijst VNSC” and “Aanwijzing EU Sancties Bevriezingsmaatregelen”) and to determine whether national freezing measures are applicable.
