Botswana identifies P6.29 billion in suspected illicit money flows

Botswana has identified an estimated P6.29 billion in suspected proceeds of crime, according to a National Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Risk Assessment. The assessment rates the country's overall money laundering risk as Medium, attributing this to oversight gaps and regulation lapses. Coordinated by Botswana's financial authorities, including the central bank and enforcement agencies like the Financial Intelligence Authority FIA, the report consolidates sector-level risks into a national framework. For the current year, the assessment highlighted five dominant domestic predicate offenses generating illicit proceeds: tax crimes, obtaining by false pretense, corruption, fraud, and stealing by servant. Tax crimes were identified as the highest-risk domestic source of illicit funds, primarily due to underdeclaration of income and non-remittance of PAYE.