Liberia’s fight against money laundering, terrorist financing and other financial crimes is gaining new momentum following the conclusion of two-week advanced financial investigation training, supported by the European Union’s SecFin Africa Programme.
The training brought together participants from over 20 anti-graft institutions, including law enforcement, regulatory bodies, tax authorities, and prosecutorial agencies.
Held in Monrovia, the initiative focused on enhancing technical skills in detecting, assessing, investigating, prosecuting, and recovering assets related to financial crimes, all in line with Financial Action Task Force (FATF) standards.
The initiative was part of the EU SecFin Africa’s Country-Level Support, Pillar One, which aims to strengthen AML/CFT (Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism) compliance and effectiveness through targeted and demand-driven technical assistance.
Participants received training on tackling complex terrorist financing cases and other financial crimes, an area previously flagged in Liberia’s Second Round Mutual Evaluation Report (MER2) by the Inter-Governmental Action Group Against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA) in May 2023.
According to experts, the capacity-building initiative marks a significant step in closing long-standing knowledge and technical gaps that have hampered Liberia’s AML/CFT framework.
It is also expected to improve the quality of Financial Intelligence Reports (FIRs) and address bottlenecks in international cooperation, including mutual legal assistance and asset recovery, areas where Liberia has struggled due to procedural inefficiencies and delays.
The training also targeted major predicate offences known to fuel money laundering in Liberia, including corruption and bribery, drug trafficking, tax evasion, currency counterfeiting, human trafficking, product piracy, and robbery.
Agencies represented at the training included the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC), Liberia Immigration Service (LIS), Liberia National Police (LNP), National Security Agency (NSA), Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Labour, Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA), Liberia Business Registry, and the Financial Intelligence Agency of Liberia (FIA).
At the closing ceremony, Mohammed A. Nasser, Officer-in-Charge of the FIA, commended the European Union and SecFin Africa for their continued support in strengthening Liberia’s financial crime-fighting capacity.
“The need to enhance the technical capacity of our competent authorities cannot be overstated,” Nasser said. “This is critical not just for protecting Liberia’s financial system, but also for contributing to the global fight against illicit financial flows.”
He emphasized that the end goal of AML/CFT enforcement must be to “follow the money to the point of confiscation”, effectively cutting off criminal access to illicit proceeds.
Nasser also urged stronger inter-agency collaboration, stating:
“No one agency can fight financial crimes alone. The knowledge you gained from this training is not yours, it is for your country.”
Participants expressed optimism and renewed motivation, citing improved investigative capacity and professional development. One trainee, speaking on behalf of the group, noted.
“We are thankful to the European Union and our facilitators for this training. We learned a lot and hope to receive more opportunities like this.”
The SecFin Africa programme is part of a broader EU initiative to help Sub-Saharan African countries tackle illicit financial flows (IFFs) linked to transnational organized crime (TOC).
The project supports national authorities through a multi-agency, FATF-aligned approach-offering assistance across the entire AML/CFT spectrum, from initial detection and assessment to prosecution and judgment.
As Liberia builds momentum in its financial crime enforcement efforts, stakeholders believe that ongoing support and coordination-both domestically and internationally, are vital to long-term success.
