A comprehensive analysis of Ghana’s real estate sector by Global Financial Integrity (GFI) has exposed significant vulnerabilities to money laundering, with a minimum of 48,833,127 dollars laundered through the sector.
The report, which examined 16 cases involving 24 properties and 510 acres of land, identified corporate structures, corruption, theft, and drug trafficking as common predicate crimes associated with Real Estate Money Laundering (REML) in Ghana.
The study found that 87.5 percent of the cases analysed involved residential properties in the Greater Accra Region, with a lack of specific regulation for Virtual Assets and Virtual Asset Service Providers (VAs/VASPs) contributing to the sector’s vulnerability.
Other key findings include:
- Reliance on Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professions (DNFBPs) Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs) has yielded limited impact, with only 2 STRs reported from 2016-2019.
- Lack of specific regulation for Virtual Assets and Virtual Asset Service Providers (VAs/VASPs).
- Non-identification and lack of verification of beneficial ownership information in real estate and land transactions.
- Non-operationalization of the central authority to enforce and supervise real estate professionals.
To address these challenges, the report recommends that government operationalise the Real Estate Agency Council (REAC) as the central authority to consolidate all related bodies for improved coordination and supervision.
Additionally, the report suggests adopting the use of “authorised persons” to verify beneficial ownership information and improving the reporting compliance of DNFBPs.
‘‘The challenges we faced as a research team, included difficulty in accessing official information and limited details of reported cases, underscoring the need for greater transparency and cooperation from national regulatory agencies’’, according to Maxwell Kuu-ire, Global Financial Integrity, Policy Analyst – West Africa.
The report also highlights the need for increased awareness and education on REML, as well as the development of regulations for VA/VASPs operations and licensing regime.
By Eben Agyekum-Boateng, 3Business
