Money laundering in law worries authorities – 05/13/2023 – Power

An international inspection of mechanisms to combat money laundering in Brazil has revived the demand from authorities and specialists for the creation of rules to prevent law firms from being used for this type of crime in the country.

As the protection of the right of defense gives the law the possibility of keeping the relationships with clients and the transactions carried out for them confidential, there are criminals who take advantage of this shield to disguise money originated in crimes as if they were legal values.

The verification of the anti-laundering system was carried out in Brazil for three weeks in March by technicians from the body that serves as a global reference for the sector, the Gafi (International Financial Action Group).

The Brazilian section of Transparency International, for example, expressed its concern to the body’s group of technicians about the lack of adoption of anti-laundering regulation measures in the Brazilian private law sector.

The Gafi group even asked the OAB (Brazilian Bar Association) for a meeting with the president of the class entity, Beto Simonetti, but the meeting did not take place.

According to the press office of the OAB, there was an incompatibility with Simonetti’s agenda, and so the “entity made itself available to Gafi to participate in discussions and group meetings, even having appointed a representative to accompany the collegiate meetings, but did not receive group return”.

In the previous assessment carried out by the Gafi, in 2009, this issue had already been raised and Brazil was criticized in the inspection report for failing to comply with international commitments to require lawyers to report suspicious financial transactions to local authorities.

According to the guidelines of the international body, law is among the activities and professions not directly linked to the financial world that must have rules to combat the illegal circulation of money.

Also in this group are real estate brokers, metal and precious stone dealers and casinos.

In the case of lawyers, the most worrisome activities are the purchase and sale of real estate, negotiations involving values ​​and assets of clients and actions related to bank accounts, incorporation and organization of companies.

According to Robinson Fernandes, delegate of the Civil Police of São Paulo and president of the anti-corruption and money laundering commission of Conacate (National Confederation of Careers and Typical State Activities), who is also an evaluator of Gafi outside Brazil, the body requires that countries have regulations for advocacy in relation to at least these specific activities.

The guideline is to create rules for lawyers and law firms to report suspicious transactions to a supervisory or control body in each country.

For the specialists, in Brazil these communications should be made to the Coaf (Financial Activities Control Council), which is the central authority of the money laundering prevention and combat system and is administratively linked to the Central Bank of Brazil.

According to Fernandes, Brazilian anti-laundering legislation already allows the OAB to create rules for advocacy, as required by international bodies.

“What is lacking is the political will of the OAB to regulate. For example, the Accounting Council has already regulated for accountants. The OAB promised in 2020 that it would issue a regulation, but so far it has not released it”, says the specialist.

Maíra Martini, leader of the research area on money laundering at the headquarters of Transparency International, in Germany, points out that Brazil also disrespects the transparency principles of the G20 (group of the 20 main economies in the world) by not creating rules against money laundering. money through lawyers.

Martini says that the country is one of the few in the G20 not to adopt the measure, joining the United States, Australia and Canada in the list of nations in the group that do not comply with the requirement.

According to the expert, “several cases of large-scale corruption depend on the help of lawyers, accountants and banks to happen. The help can be due to non-checking or due to knowledge and participation in the scheme, that is, it can be negligence or effective involvement “.

“Not regulating the profession means that the life of criminals in Brazil is becoming much easier”, he adds.

The researcher said that she had contacts with representatives of the OAB in 2021 and the entity’s board even voted on a provision to create the regulation, but the result was the rejection of the measure.

The regional attorney of the Republic in São Paulo Janice Ascari has more than 30 years of experience in the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office working in cases of corruption and money laundering and recalls that, in many of them, criminals used lawyers or offices.

Ascari states that, since the beginning of the Federal Police’s large operations in the early 2000s, with the Anaconda operation, until more recently, with the E$quema S operation, several offices and lawyers were investigated for allegedly having participated in criminal chains. , which shows the importance of regulating the sector.

One of the ways to launder money through offices is by simulating or overcharging the provision of legal services, says the attorney.

‘It’s a really gray area with money transactions between clients and lawyers. This subject has been debated for decades, and it hasn’t moved,” he says.

wanted by Sheetthe National OAB stated, in a note, that “the aforementioned regulation is one of the topics that should be discussed, in the future, by the plenary of the Federal Council of the OAB”.

“The OAB promotes clarification campaigns on the subject and acts administratively in cases where there is a court decision, respecting the principle of the presumption of innocence. The ethical-disciplinary processes, according to the Statute of Advocacy, are confidential. censorship of the expulsion of advocacy staff”, says the class entity.