A 5-member delegation from the Ghana Real Estate Developers Association (GREDA) paid a courtesy call on the Management of the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) in Accra.
The visit was to address the concerns of some members of GREDA who have been receiving Letters of Request from EOCO in recent times.
The delegation led by the President, Patrick Ebo Bonful, wanted to understand why this was happening, so they could allay the fears of their members. They also wanted to find out ways in which real estate developers, as gatekeepers in the Anti-Money Laundering regime, could cooperate with EOCO to fulfil its mandate.
The Executive Director of EOCO, COP Maame Yaa Tiwaa Addo-Danquah, in her address, indicated that EOCO was undertaking a monitoring exercise with other stakeholders in the real estate industry where certain information was required from members hence the letters. She assured the delegation not to be alarmed as this was not a case of witch-hunting and that members need only comply with EOCO requests to support its mandate.
Maame Yaa Tiwaa Addo-Danquah highlighted the relevance of the Association in the fight against Money Laundering. She encouraged the members of GREDA to file suspicious transaction reports and report any odd activities to law enforcement agencies like EOCO since the real estate industry is one, which criminals use to launder ill-gotten money.
Mr. Patrick Bonful proposed that a Form be generated to meet a standard requirement for use by all real estate agencies in Ghana.
This would prevent GREDA members from negative tags of being difficult, whilst non-member real estate agencies do not require so much information. He hinted that laws regulating this area would go a long way to encourage uniformity and help sanitize the industry.
He further added that the Association would appreciate it if the government and law enforcement agencies could develop some mitigating measures or incentives to encourage GREDA members to file suspicious transactions to avert financial implications on their individual businesses.
The meeting ended after the GREDA delegation was satisfied with the discussions and thereafter reiterated their commitment to help EOCO in the fight against Money Laundering in Ghana.